What's New?

The Nevada Public Employees’ Deferred Compensation Program (NDC) welcomes the summer with many exciting Plan enhancements to assist participants and employees as you NV Your Retirement.

Stay the Course...

It is no surprise that our world is experiencing market volatility caused by pandemic recovery (unwinding COVID era monetary support), a tight labor market, and elevated levels of inflation that have not been experienced since 1981. Oil prices, for instance, have risen from $50.00 a barrel at the end of 2020 to more than $75.00 at the end of 2021. A barrel then reached a high of $123.64 (a 64% increase from year-end) before ending the 1st quarter of 2022 at $100.53. The 2nd quarter has not fared much better, with more sharp increases as the weather gets warmer. To some, especially those nearing retirement, this type of activity may seem concerning.

We want to remind you that the NDC Program is a long-term saving vehicle and encourage you to Stay the Course. If you are nearing retirement, we suggest that you visit with one of the three local NDC-approved Voya representatives assigned to the Program or call the NDC Plan Information Line toll-free at 855-GO-RET-NV (467-3868) and ask to speak with a Voya Retirement Advisor for an evaluation of your unique situation before making investment-related decisions. Sometimes, the best action may be to take no action. Continuing to contribute to your NDC account also allows you to benefit from Dollar Cost Averaging, which means purchasing more units of an investment during a down market. As you continue to weather the storm of market volatility, we are here to support you.

Changes to the NDC Core Investment Lineup to Take Effect this Summer

At its March 10, 2022 quarterly meeting, the NDC Committee elected to make changes to the NDC core investment lineup. Communications will be sent to all participants at their address of record. NDC Administration will detail the timeline for these changes in the communication that is mailed to all participants:

• NDC will map the suite of Vanguard Target Retirement Mutual Funds to the new suite of Vanguard Target Retirement Collective Investment Trusts (CIT). This will impact approximately $223 million in Plan assets and save participants approximately $56,000 per year in investment costs.
• The investment lineup will also add the Vanguard Target Retirement 2070 CIT, and merge the 2015 CIT with the Vanguard Target Retirement Income CIT.
• NDC will map nearly $41 million in assets from the Vanguard Total International Stock Index to a newly added Vanguard Total International Stock Collective Investment Trust (CIT). The move will save participants approximately $8,000 per year in investment costs.

NDC Committee Members Appointed to Serve an Additional Term

We are happy to announce that Governor Sisolak has reappointed Committee member Jeffrey Ferguson to serve an additional term as the Program’s Retiree Representative. Additionally, the Governor reappointed Susie Chang to serve an additional term as one of the Committee members whose payroll is administrated through the State of Nevada Division of Human Resource Management of the Department of Administration. We are fortunate to have these Committee members, and fellow NDC participants, serve our Program in this capacity.

In closing, all of us here at NDC wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable summer.

Advisory Services provided by Voya Retirement Advisors, LLC (VRA). For more information, please read the Voya Retirement Advisors Disclosure Statement, Advisory Services Agreement and your plan's Fact Sheet.

Consider your savings options to help spread the wealth.

Saving for retirement is only one financial goal for most Americans. Other goals may include saving for college, unexpected expenses, and healthcare costs. The first step to consider setting your personal financial goals. What do you need to save for?

Once you have set your goals, review your monthly spending habits for the past year. One way to help you save more is by spending less. By understanding your spending habits and savings goals, you can build a budget that buckets what you can spend and save. One way to help bucket money is to automate your savings so you can set it and forget it until you need it.

By now, you may have learned how essential it is to have an emergency fund. A strong emergency savings fund would provide for 3-6 months of current living expenses. This will be your first line of defense against unexpected expenses and keep you from raiding other savings or going into debt. Even if you don’t have enough savings right now to cover essentials for six months, saving any amount towards that goal will help. Remember, it’s not if an unexpected expense will happen – but when.

As healthcare costs continue to rise, an option for those in a high-deductible health plan may be a Health Savings Account (HSA). If a HSA is not offered through your employer, you can open one up your own. A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) may also be an option, but you can only contribute to either a HSA or FSA in the same tax year. Both accounts offer tax benefits and can help take care of qualified medical expenses in retirement, but be sure to research each option to determine what is best for your unique situation. Our friends at Public Employee Benefits Program (PEBP) or your Employer Sponsored Benefits Program may provide great resources to help you set up, maintain and contribute to a HSA or FSA.

College costs have also skyrocketed, but understanding the different ways to fund a college education may help your kids and their future. The government has established a number of programs and tax laws to make saving for college easier. Review options such as a 529 Plan, a Coverdell Education Savings Account, a Uniform Gifts (or Transfers) to Minors Act account, and tax credits for college costs to determine the best way to help save for college without risking your own financial future. The State of Nevada Treasurer’s Office is your most viable resource for assistance with understanding college savings programs, and they offer matching and incentive programs for participants as well.

Where do you go from here? Visit ­nevada.beready2retire.com to log into your account and click Financial Wellness at the top of the page for more information on saving and spending, managing debt, emergency funds, and more.

Make positive changes toward achieving a secure retirement

If you have questions about retirement, you’re not alone. You may wonder “How much do I need to have saved for retirement?” and “How does my retirement savings translate into potential monthly income to replace my paycheck when I’m no longer working?” To get answers, it’s good to have help to visualize your retirement income future so that you can retire when and how you want.

Visit nevada.beready2retire.com to log in to your NDC account. If you’ve never logged in before, you will have to create a NDC account username and password. Click Register Now in the Log In box to get started. You will need your Social Security Number and your date of birth to register online. If you have a PIN that you use for automated phone service, you can also use that. Contact the NDC Plan Information Line toll-free at 855-GO-RET-NV (467-3868) to reset your PIN if needed.

After you’ve logged in to access your NDC account, you can start to visualize retirement by clicking About Me below the orange money dollar bill. In the About Me section, confirm your date of birth, annual pay (before taxes), expected pay increase per year, and how much of your current income you will need in retirement. Providing this information and keeping it updated will help improve the accuracy of your estimated monthly income amount in retirement.

With your About Me information updated, you can now see your estimated monthly income in the myOrangeMoney experience. The white in your orange money dollar bill represents the gap you have in your estimated monthly retirement income goal. Use the sliders to the right of the dollar bill to illustrate how changing your NDC savings, your anticipated retirement age, and your hypothetical investment return may have on your estimated monthly income. The more orange in your dollar bill, the closer you may be to the estimated monthly income needed to sustain yourself in retirement. To update the amount of your pay you can save now, visit defcomp.nv.gov to download a Payroll Contribution Form. Complete the form and return it as instructed for processing. The change in your pay will take effect within a couple pay periods. By saving consistently andincreasing your contributions as you earn more, the steps you take today can help you reach your goals for tomorrow. Log in and check your progress now!

IMPORTANT: The illustrations or other information generated by the calculators are hypothetical in nature, do not reflect actual investment results, and are not guarantees of future results. This information does not serve, either directly or indirectly, as legal, financial or tax advice and you should always consult a qualified professional legal, financial and/or tax advisor when making decisions related to your individual tax situation.

Leave your loved ones in good hands.

Have you thought about who will inherit your assets after you are gone? One way to avoid family strife and probate, where the court will distribute your assets, is to make sure you direct the assets in all of your financial accounts (including retirement, annuities and life insurance) into the hands of the one(s) you love by choosing or updating your beneficiary.

Even if you have a will, not all your assets pass through at its direction. If the account is jointly owned, has a named beneficiary, or has a “payable on death” title, these assets often will supersede any will. If you have no beneficiary listed, probate court will decide for you and the outcome may not be what you wanted.

If you have named your beneficiaries already, it is not a one-and-done situation. Each type of account may need to change when life events dictate, such as getting married, divorced, having children or the death of a spouse. When life events like these occur, updating your beneficiaries is vital. You can also name a secondary, or contingent, beneficiary for each account to receive your assets if your primary beneficiary dies.

If you are naming a minor child as a primary or contingent beneficiary, be sure to have a guardian or living trust (which is sometimes more valuable) in place to avoid the possibility of probate upon your passing. If you are naming someone with a disability or special need, be sure to understand the effect a beneficiary designation may potentially have on their government benefits. Your choice of beneficiary has far-reaching financial, personal, and legal outcomes. In addition, naming a minor child, individual with a disability, or a trust as your beneficiary of your retirement plan account should be assessed in consideration of the Internal Revenue Service’s required minimum distribution payments to beneficiaries. Consider working with a tax advisor, estate planning advisor, and financial professional to help navigate your unique situation.

Be sure to keep your assets in the hands of the ones you love. Contact the provider for each of your financial accounts to understand any additional beneficiary designation rules or restrictions, and to ask questions about making changes to your current designation. For your NDC account, visit nevada.beready2retire.com to log in and go to Personal Information in your account profile to review, name or change your designation under the Beneficiary Information section. You can contact the NDC Plan Information Line toll-free at 855-GO-RET-NV (467-3868) or NDC Administration office at 775-684-3398 with questions about your NDC account beneficiary. It’s also a good idea to put an annual event in your calendar to remind yourself to review your accounts. Do something good for those you care about and review your beneficiaries today.

Special needs planning checklist

Creating a lifetime of continuous care for a child or loved one with disabilities requires careful consideration and planning. The journey can seem confusing at first glance, but it’s much easier when you’re organized.

Some of the ways you can guide your efforts in planning and protecting the future of your loved one with special needs include:

• Creating a comprehensive Life Care Plan to ensure your loved one receives the long-term care they need.
• Creating a Letter of Intent or “letter of instruction” to communicate information about your loved one’s needs and vision of the future.
• Having a family meeting to ensure all family members and interested parties are informed of, and know where to find, the Life Care Plan and Letter of Intent.
• Identifying all financial resources available to create the future you or your loved one envisions, including government benefits, insurance and personal assets.
• Exploring available resources for managing care, including online tools.
• Choosing a guardian (if needed), a trustee and successors to oversee your care and resources or the care and resources of your loved one, when you’re no longer able to.
• Using wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, living wills/advanced directives and other legal instruments to craft a well-defined estate plan.
• Carefully reviewing all beneficiary designations and titling or ownership to ensure inheritances won’t interrupt government benefits.
• Consulting with a specialist attorney to determine whether a first-party, third-party, or pooled special needs trust is a good fit for you or your loved one.

Providing the care and support a loved one needs is a lifelong commitment, which is why having a documented financial strategy makes sense. A specially trained professional can help you navigate the journey and confidently check all of the necessary boxes, so you can rest easier knowing your and your loved one’s future is more secure. Visit voya.com/article/special-needs-planning-checklist for more tips and insight, and to download your own copy of the Voya Cares Checklist for Individuals and Caregivers.

THE DEFERRED WORD   |  Second Quarter 2022

Nevada Public Employees’ Deferred Compensation Program (NDC)
Nevada State Library and Archives Building, 100 N. Stewart Street, Suite 100, Carson City, NV 89701

Phone 775-684-3397    |    Fax 775-684-3399    |    defcomp.nv.gov

Plan administrative services are provided by Voya Institutional Plan Services, LLC (VIPS). VIPS is a member of the Voya^® family of companies and is not affiliated with the State of Nevada Public Employees’ Deferred Compensation Program.

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