What's New?

As the Nevada Summer comes to a close and the Autumn/Fall Season begins, the Nevada Public Employees’ Deferred Compensation Program (NDC) prepares for exciting changes and new educational opportunities to assist participants and employees with their journey to and through retirement.

NDC Core Investments: Our Selection and Oversight Process

NDC participants often ask how the NDC Administration selects the investment options in our core investment lineup. We have a very rigorous and sound process that starts with our Investment Policy. This policy guides the NDC Committee, with the assistance and guidance of our contracted investment consultant, to assist in selecting best-in-class and cost-effective investment options in a particular investment category or asset class. Our investment consultant conducts research and provides data to the NDC Committee and Administration that is reviewed, discussed, and evaluated by the NDC Committee in an open public meeting. The NDC Committee then decides what changes would be the most cost effective and beneficial for the Plan’s participants. The investment consultant and NDC’s Executive Officer regularly evaluate how the core investment options are performing. In our Investment Policy, we have adopted various benchmarking criteria that we use to evaluate the performance and management of each investment option. An investment is placed under a more extensive review if it falls short of our established evaluation criteria, may be formally placed on our watch list, and may eventually be replaced with a more suitable investment option. The NDC Committee and Administration also regularly reviews and monitors investments to keep Plan costs as low as possible. The NDC Executive Officer works with our investment consultant to identify different investment classes that may present more affordability. Lower investment expenses help participants keep more of their assets invested and working for them in their NDC account. With all this extensive oversight process, we strive to provide participants with best-in-class investment options, at the lowest cost available, and the best interest earning potential possible.

October is Nevada Saves Month

Each October, the NDC Program celebrates National Retirement Security Month by offering a variety of educational opportunities for all government employees and their families. Our event, Nevada Saves Month, will include live webinars and weekly emails to help State employees and their families improve their overall financial security now and in retirement. October is also Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and Nevada Saves Month will focus on ways you can keep your accounts and identity protected from fraud and cybersecurity threats. The next page details the series of Nevada Saves Month webinars we have scheduled during the month. We hope to see you there!

Exciting News!

NDC has been chosen to receive a National Leadership Award of Excellence in the National Retirement Security Month category for its 2021 Nevada Saves Month campaign. The National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) selected the campaign to receive this acknowledgment, and the NDC Program is one of only five government plans in the country to win an award in the category this year. NDC was recognized with the award at NAGDCA’s annual conference in Baltimore this past September. Don’t miss out on the award-winning Nevada Saves Month this October!

In closing, all of us here at NDC wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable start to the Fall and Holiday Season.

NDC will present a series of retirement planning webinars during Nevada Saves Month to help you on your journey to a secure financial future.

All NDC participants are invited to attend. Our live webinars will be available for you to join using Microsoft Teams. You can also join us by phone by calling (775) 321-6111 and entering the conference ID for the session. We hope to see you there.

Get To Know Your NDC Account: Tools & Demonstration

October 18 at 2:00 pm | Phone Conference ID: 334 362 60
October 20 at 11:00 am | Phone Conference ID: 823 669 543
For all NDC participants or employees not currently contributing to NDC. Join us to learn all the basics of the Program including the responsibilities of the NDC Committee, resources used and available through the NDC Administrative Office, how much you’ll need to retire, how much you should save for retirement, key and important Plan features, managing your account, and more.

NDC Basics & Beyond

October 18 at 12:00 pm | Phone Conference ID: 562 226 165
October 19 at 2:00 pm | Phone Conference ID: 345 059 291
For all NDC participants. Join us to learn about the Program including the responsibilities of the NDC Committee and Administrative Office, how much you’ll need to retire, how much you should save for retirement, Plan features, managing your account, and more.

Retiring Minds Want to Know

October 20 at 1:00 pm | Phone Conference ID: 505 090 001
October 21 at 10:00 pm | Phone Conference ID: 280 209 891
For NDC participants who are within 10 years of retirement. Join us to learn how to estimate your NVPERS pension, Social Security, and healthcare costs in retirement using the myOrangeMoney experience. You’ll also learn how to maximize your savings in the years leading up to retirement, how to manage your investments to and through retirement, and the distribution options from your NDC account.

Purchasing Service Credit in NVPERS with NDC Assets

October 20 at 3:00 pm | Phone Conference ID: 268 102 946
October 21 at 12:00 pm | Phone Conference ID: 457 630 693
For NDC participants who are members of the Nevada Public Employees’ Retirement System (NVPERS). Join us to learn how to use your NDC funds to purchase service credits including who to contact, what forms to request, how to complete the forms, submitting forms for processing, distributing funds once the request is processed, and more.

Getting to Know the NDC Investment Advice Tools

October 18 at 4:00 pm | Phone Conference ID: 760 176 740
October 19 at 4:00 pm | Phone Conference ID: 766 221 847
NDC's Executive Officer, Rob Boehmer, will take participants for a tour to navigate through the NDC investment advice tools available to all NDC participants. You'll also learn the steps to change your current and future investment allocations in your secure online NDC account.

Tips for keeping your account safe and secure

NDC and the Plan’s contracted recordkeeper, Voya Financial^®, recognize the importance of safeguarding your financial accounts and your personal information against the ongoing risk of fraud, cyber threats, and other unauthorized activity. October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. This month, take action to secure your accounts and keep your personal information safe. Remember, you are your own first line of defense when it comes to protecting your accounts and identity.

General password security

• Use and regularly update a unique password for each website where you maintain an account.
• Never use your date of birth or Social Security number as your password.
• Don’t allow social networking sites or web browsers to memorize your passwords.
• Don’t share your password or answers to security questions with anyone
• The strongest passwords are comprised of a chain of unrelated common words.

Beware of fraudulent emails or phishing

• Be suspicious of emails asking for your confidential information and never provide credentials.
• Look out for red flags such as urgent requests, unknown email addresses or discrepancies between actual and displayed hyperlinks.
• Be aware that fraudulent emails can appear to come from a business that you are working with. Always review the sender’s name, email address and URL to ensure they are from a legitimate source.
• Voya will never ask you for your personal information by email.

Monitor your accounts frequently

• Look for unusual transactions when reviewing your accounts.
• Immediately open your quarterly statements and transaction confirmations to verify all activity. If you notice anything suspicious with your NDC account, call Voya^® immediately.
• Sign up for electronic delivery (e-delivery) of important documents to get quicker notification of account activity.

NDC and Voya believe that keeping your NDC account secure is a mutual responsibility. Voya's S.A.F.E. Guarantee will restore the value of your account if any assets are taken from your NDC account due to unauthorized activity and through no fault of your own. To learn more about Voya’s S.A.F.E. Guarantee, visit voya.com/articles/safe-guarantee.

When it comes to market volatility, persistence counts

The financial markets have been volatile to say the least. History has shown that persistence in volatile markets often has an upside, especially when you use a true investing technique called dollar cost averaging. If you’re currently contributing to your retirement plan, you are dollar cost averaging and may not even realize it.

What is dollar cost averaging?

It’s pretty simple. When you invest money from your paycheck, no matter the amount, you purchase shares of an investment. Through dollar cost averaging, the contributions you consistently make each pay period can help you save for your future without having to consider current market conditions.

Investing through dollar cost averaging

Let’s assume you are contributing $100 per month into your retirement plan. Each $100 contribution purchases an amount based on the current share price. Since the price of a share fluctuates daily, your regular contributions will buy more shares some pay periods and less in others. In this example, the share price fluctuated between $5 and $10 over a six-month period. While the average market price per share for the period was $7.17, the average cost per share from the six $100 investments was $6.79. Dollar cost averaging helps to reduce the risk of investing at the “wrong time” and can help take advantage of the market’s ups and downs.

Why it can work

You may have investment questions, like when to invest and how much. You’re not alone. Everyone would like to be able to “time the market” — buying when prices are low and selling when prices are high. There’s no way to know in advance when the best time to make a one-time purchase is, though, so you don’t have to be concerned about market timing when spreading your investments out with dollar cost averaging. By investing regularly, you’re also less likely to miss out on buying opportunities when share prices are down.

Persistence counts

Remember, markets will always fluctuate. In the 20th century alone, the U.S. endured two world wars and other traumatic conflicts, the Great Depression, a dozen or so recessions and more. Despite all of that, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose from 66 to 11,497 over that time.¹ To learn more about market volatility and what you can do now to help stick to your plan, visit voya.com/page/navigating-market-volatility.

Dollar cost averaging/Systematic Investment plan does not ensure a profit nor guarantee against loss. Investors should consider their financial
ability to continue their purchases through periods of low price levels. The hypothetical investment results are for illustrative purposes only and
should not be deemed a representation of past or future results. This example does not represent any specific product, nor does it reflect sales charges or other expenses that may be required for some investments.

Source:
¹Inc. Magazine, Warren Buffett's Best Advice on Navigating Stock Market Crashes, September 2019, Wright Chief marketing technologist, CCP Global, December 09, 2019

The Retirement Crunch

Voya Cares research indicates that two specific groups of Americans are dealing with unique challenges when planning for their own retirement and other financial goals.

11 million Americans — 28% of all caregivers — are considered “Sandwich Caregivers” who provide unpaid care to an adult while also caring for children living in their home.¹

10.6 million Americans over age 65 are either still working or looking for work. That number represents a 57-year high.² While some of these folks are working later in life because they enjoy it, most of them are considered “Career Extenders” who are working longer because they didn’t have enough saved to retire when they planned to. This situation has been enhanced due to the pandemic, inflation and the potential for a recession.

Sandwich Caregivers and Career Extenders may experience health and financial crises during the next several decades. So now what? If you’re working later in life or if you’re caring for a minor, a person with disabilities or an aging parent, here are some considerations to include in your financial plans.

Health care: Include the potential future cost of health care and long-term care in your plans. Review coverage options and supplemental benefits provided by your employer and consider a Health Savings Account if you are in a high-deductible plan. Look into Medicare supplements or critical illness options for additional protection.

Housing: Make decisions about what housing may look like for you and your dependents. Will you need to modify your existing living space or move to a new home?

Financial: Build financial resources such as emergency and retirement savings to help meet your short and long-term goals. You can also save without jeopardizing government benefits eligibility by opening an ABLE account for qualified people with disabilities. Be sure to maximize your Social Security and learn more about potential Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) options. A financial professional can also help you with caregiving, legacy, and retirement planning.

Did you know that caregivers may need more retirement savings, but the additional cost of providing care can limit their ability to save for the future? Take some time to learn about the ways you can help to maximize your saving and manage your spending. Visit voyacares.com/aging for education and support for the unique challenges that current Sandwich Caregivers and Career Extenders, and future Americans may face on the road to a financially secure retirement.

Sources:
¹ “Burning the Candle at Both Ends: Sandwich Generation Caregiving in the U.S.”, The National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC), November 2019.

² According to the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), analyzed by investment and financial-planning firm United Income and reported in Business Insider, April 29, 2019: Loudenback, Tanza. “One-fifth of older Americans are working past 'retirement age’, and it’s not because they can’t afford to retire.” https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/baby-boomers-working-past-retirement-age-healthier-2019-4

What happens when life happens?

Many things that happen in life are out of our control. How you prepare for and react to the things that happen to you, though, are within your control. Instead of worrying about what can happen, planning for when life happens is one way to help minimize the impacts of a financial shock.

You may think that emergency savings are a luxury and something you can’t afford to save for, but you’re wrong. Even small, consistent savings into an emergency fund can have the potential to grow over time and be there for you when you need it most.

When should you use your emergency savings, though? What constitutes a financial emergency? Setting money aside to build an emergency fund may be easier than knowing when tapping into that cash reserve is warranted. Paying for living expenses, vehicle problems or emergency home repairs are some common reasons to use emergency savings, but there are other cases where understanding when to use your savings can help you to make smarter choices about your finances. Learn more about some of the times when using an emergency fund is a smart way to fend off all of the ‘what ifs’ in life. Visit https://blog.voya.com/financial-decisions/when-should-you-use-your-emergency-fund-nc and then get saving for your next unexpected expense.

THE DEFERRED WORD   |  Third 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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