REMINDER: Important plan changes go into effect November 1, 2012. Visit www.fidelity.com/uw to learn more, schedule a consultation with a Fidelity Workplace Planning and Guidance Consultant, and begin selecting among the new funds (available June 11).
Online enrollment in the Voluntary Investment Program (VIP) is easy. Simply complete sections 1 and 2 below. Both sections are required to process your request.
Review the Voluntary Investment Program page prior to beginning your online enrollment.
What is required PRIOR to enrolling in VIP through Employee Self Service (ESS) is a UW-specific VIP contract with the fund sponsor (i.e. Calvert, Fidelity, TIAA CREF, or Vanguard) for which you wish to invest your contributions. This allows your contributions to be automatically directed to the appropriate funds through payroll deduction. New fund sponsor contract(s) is/are required on a one-time basis, i.e. only upon establishing a new UW account. Non-UW accounts with the same fund sponsors (such as an IRA or an account from a prior employer) cannot be used.
If you begin a UW VIP deduction without opening a UW VIP account with an appropriate fund sponsor, in most cases the fund sponsor will request from the Benefits Office the minimum information needed to establish an account in your name. After the basic account is established, contributions to Calvert and TIAA-CREF accounts will be invested in a money market fund and contributions to Vanguard will be invested in a life cycle fund. It will then be your responsibility to contact the fund sponsor directly to name beneficiaries, select investment funds, and allocate your contribution.
Please note this exception for Fidelity Investments: Contributions will be returned to the employee if VIP contributions are started before a UW VIP account has been established with Fidelity.
Decide how you would like to allocate your investment. See Maximizing Your Retirement Savings.
Read the prospectus carefully before investing in any mutual fund. These are available through the fund sponsors' websites.
You can contribute to more than one fund sponsor. To open an account, follow the instructions on the fund sponsor's website. You can submit your application electronically to Calvert, Fidelity, or TIAA-CREF. The Vanguard application is a PDF file that you must download, print, complete, and mail to Vanguard. Note: to download, view, and print the PDF forms on this site and the fund sponsors' sites, you need to have the free Adobe® Acrobat® Reader™ installed on your computer.
You may invest in any of the mutual funds listed on the fund sponsor sites.
Print a copy of your fund sponsor contract to keep for your records. The UW automatically receives its own electronic copy.
Make changes to your VIP contributions through the secure and convienient Employee Self Service (ESS) using the "Retirement & Savings" tab.
Changes made through 5:00 p.m. on a payroll calculation night will be deducted from the next paycheck. For calculation cutoff dates, see the Payroll Office website for the current payroll cutoff schedule.
If you prefer not to use ESS, you may submit the VIP Enrollment/Change Form. Complete, print, and sign the form and mail it to the Benefits Office.
VIP contributions may not exceed 75% of your gross pay in order to allow for taxes and other deductions. The UW reserves the right to adjust VIP deductions to the 75% level.
If we receive your VIP enrollment form by the 15th of the month, your contributions will begin on the 25th. If your form is received by end of the month, contributions will begin on the 10th of the following month.
The University provides educational information and tools to help you make choices that suit your individual goals. The University cannot provide investment advice to its employees.
VIP Resources