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NEWS TO USE FOR EMPLOYERS 

APRIL 2023

THE EMPLOYER SERVICE CENTER CAN HELP

PERSI’s Employer Service Center (ESC) can offer some quick tips to help with your PERSI reporting process. They can help you with forms, transmittals, GASB information, and much more.

If you have any employer-related questions and cannot find the answer on PERSI’s website, www.persi.idaho.gov, please call the PERSI Employer Service Center at 1-866-887-9525 or 208-287-9525.

YOUR PERSI CHOICE 401(K) PLAN – IMPORTANT CHANGES MAKE IT EASIER THAN EVER!

The PERSI Choice 401(k) Plan is a voluntary, supplemental retirement plan that is simple, transparent, and easy for PERSI members to use. The PERSI Retirement Board is continually working to make participant experience better and help PERSI members of all ages better prepare for retirement.

Two relevant changes to the PERSI Choice 401(k) Plan that will make it more user-friendly for more participants than ever before will both take effect starting April 1, 2023.

First, active members will be able to make withdrawals, penalty-free after reaching age 59 ½. Before this change, the in-service withdrawal age requirement was 70 ½. 

Second, your PERSI Choice 401(k) Plan beneficiary designation will no longer be tied to your Base Plan designation. This means you can, if you choose, select different beneficiaries for each Plan – something you could not do before.

You can review or update your Choice 401(k) Plan beneficiary designation today. Log in to your account at mypersi401k.com, click on the Account dropdown and select Overview. On the left navigation, select Beneficiaries. If you’re happy with your designation, NO ACTION REQUIRED. Otherwise, you can make a change online on or after April 1, 2023.

Prefer to update your Choice 401(k) Plan beneficiary via paper? Download the form, print and mail a copy to the address listed on the form.

PERSI contracts with Empower to provide recordkeeping services for your Choice 401(k) Plan account. This includes individual counseling and assistance for participants. To schedule an appointment, click here. You can also reach an Empower representative by phone at (866) 437-3774.

CHOICE 401(K) PLAN FEE AND FUND LINEUP CHANGES

Simplicity, transparency, and minimal cost to participants remain top priorities for the PERSI Choice 401(k) Plan.

With those priorities in mind, the PERSI Retirement Board has restructured the administrative/record keeping fees and negotiated favorable investment management fee reductions. The investment fee reductions took effect in August 2022, and the administrative/record keeping fee structure changes went into effect February 1, 2023.

Follow this link to learn more and examine the new fee schedules.

PERSI also regularly reviews and sometimes changes the plan’s investment options so you may continue to select from a competitive range of investment options. As a result of a recent review, we are announcing the following plan changes:

• Addition of two funds: the T. Rowe Price Overseas Stock I and DFA Emerging Markets Core Equity I.
• Replacement of three funds. The U.S. Broad Market Equity Index Fund, Brandes International Equity R6, and Emerging Markets Equity Index Fund will be removed.
• Share Class changes to two funds. The fund’s investment strategy and risk/potential reward characteristics remain the same; this is a change in share class only. The new share class may offer a lower expense ratio, which means it may cost less to invest in the fund.

Follow this link for more details regarding the fund lineup changes.

You may also contact an Empower representative at 1-866-437-3774 for more information regarding fund lineup changes or fee structure changes.

PERSI contracts with Empower to provide recordkeeping services for your Choice 401(k) Plan account.