Investment Management Services
tufts medicine employees
Your Tufts Medicine benefits are one part of your financial life. Understanding your current options, benefits earned through earlier roles and the decisions ahead can help you build toward the life and retirement you want.
understand what applies to you
The health system was founded as Wellforce in 2014 and adopted the Tufts Medicine name in 2022. Tufts Medicine lists 403(b) matching contributions among its employee benefits and states that benefits vary by entity, location, hours, and role, directing union employees to their collective bargaining agreement. Depending on your employment history, however, you may also have a balance or accrued benefit governed by an earlier plan. Your current eligibility and any legacy benefits can depend on your employing entity, hire date, employee group, hours, job classification, and bargaining-unit status.
| Benefit or account | What to confirm | Where to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current workplace plan | Eligibility, contribution types, employer contributions and vesting | Current plan documents, your employer’s HR system and your plan recordkeeper’s portal | These provisions determine how you save today and which employer contributions you may receive |
| Legacy savings account | The plan name, sponsor, balance, fees, investments and available distribution options | Former statements, prior recordkeepers and the applicable plan administrator | An older account may remain subject to terms that differ from your current plan |
| Frozen pension benefit | Credited service, benefit amount, commencement dates, payment forms and survivor options | The pension administrator, benefit estimate and governing plan documents | The payment form and starting date can affect income available to you and a surviving spouse |
| Employee-group provisions | Rules tied to bargaining-unit status, classification, hours, hire date or employing entity | The current summary plan description and any applicable collective-bargaining agreement | A colleague's elections or employer-contribution formula may not apply to your situation |
This overview is not a plan document. Current eligibility and plan provisions vary by employee group and may change. Confirm your benefits in the current summary plan description, your employer’s HR system, your plan recordkeeper’s portal, and any applicable collective-bargaining agreement. Legacy accounts and frozen benefits may remain subject to earlier documents
1
The match formula, eligibility waiting period, and vesting schedule may depend on the provisions that apply to your employee group. Advice based on another employee’s experience can overlook a different hire date, classification, hours requirement, or bargaining agreement.
2
If you changed hospitals, entities, or roles, confirm what happened to the account associated with your earlier employment. A balance may remain under a former plan, have moved to a successor arrangement, or be eligible for transfer, depending on the governing documents.
3
Your pre-tax and Roth elective deferrals generally share one annual individual limit across 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE, and SARSEP plans; governmental 457(b) deferrals generally have a separate limit. Changing employers or holding a second job makes it especially important to track the total contributed during the year.
what you have
Contribution rates, pre-tax and Roth elections, investment choices and pension decisions should be considered alongside your cash flow, taxes, other assets, family priorities and expected retirement date. Looking at them together makes it easier to understand the tradeoffs and choose a course that supports the life and retirement you are working toward.
Tufts Medicine lists 403(b) matching contributions among its employee benefits, while noting that benefits vary by entity, location, hours, and role. If your plan permits both contribution types, pre-tax contributions generally reduce current taxable income, while qualified Roth distributions are generally tax-free. The appropriate mix depends on cash flow, plan terms, current and expected tax rates, and other retirement income.
Employer contributions, eligibility waiting periods, and vesting schedules are governed by the provisions that apply to your employment. Reviewing the current documents and your contribution election can show what is required to receive the maximum employer contribution for which you are eligible, while leaving room to weigh cash flow, emergency savings, debt, and other priorities.
Some long-tenured employees may hold a frozen defined-benefit pension, including nurses covered by the agreement ratified in January 2018. The administrator’s benefit estimate, available starting dates, payment forms, and survivor protections should be reviewed well before retirement. Those choices can then be modeled against household income needs, other assets, and the financial implications of the estate plan.
Your workplace plan offers a defined investment menu. If you were automatically enrolled, contributions may have been directed to the plan’s qualified default investment, often a target-date fund based mainly on age or an assumed retirement year. Compare the available options, expenses, and risks with your time horizon, tolerance for loss, and investments held outside the plan.
You may still have a balance in a plan from an earlier Tufts Medicine role or another employer, particularly after a rebranding, system merger, or address change. Former statements and administrator records can help identify what remains. From there, compare leaving the assets in place, moving them to a new employer plan if accepted, rolling them into an IRA, or taking a distribution, including the differences in fees, investments, services, protections, and taxes.
Health savings accounts, IRAs, taxable investments, and a spouse’s retirement plan sit outside your workplace benefits but still affect the same financial decisions. If you are HSA-eligible, an HSA can offer federal tax advantages through eligible contributions, tax-deferred growth, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. State treatment and the rules for nonqualified withdrawals can differ.
employment history
Your current retirement account may be only part of the picture. Earlier service, a move between employers in the system or participation in a pension plan can create benefits that must be identified before retirement decisions are made.
A tentative agreement reached in December 2017 and ratified in January 2018 moved nurses who were then in the defined benefit pension plan to the 403(b) retirement savings plan for future retirement benefits. If this applied to you, the frozen pension may remain an important source of retirement income. Review the administrator’s estimate, credited service, commencement dates, payment forms, and survivor protections before deciding when and how to begin the benefit.
A career that moved among Lowell General, Tufts Medical Center, MelroseWakefield, or another employer may have produced more than one retirement account or benefit. Review prior statements and current account records to determine whether an older balance remains separate, moved to a successor plan, or was transferred elsewhere. Once identified, each account can be evaluated as part of the same household portfolio without assuming it should be consolidated.
Physicians and other clinicians working in the same setting may have different legal employers or employee classifications. Start with the employer shown on your W-2, then confirm the plan and provisions that apply through current enrollment materials, the summary plan description, and any applicable employment or bargaining agreement.
tufts benefit questions
These are the questions that connect plan provisions with the decisions your household needs to make.
Begin with the legal employer shown on your W-2, then confirm your employee group, hire date, hours, classification, and bargaining-unit status. The current summary plan description, enrollment materials, and any applicable collective-bargaining agreement determine which provisions apply.
If you are eligible for an employer contribution, first understand the contribution rate required to receive the maximum amount available under your plan. Then weigh additional savings against cash flow, emergency reserves, high-cost debt, and other priorities. A sustainable contribution rate can be reviewed as compensation and household needs change.
If both options are available, pre-tax contributions generally reduce current taxable income, while qualified Roth distributions are generally tax-free. The comparison should account for current and expected tax rates, cash flow, pension income, Social Security, required withdrawals, and other assets. Holding both types may provide additional flexibility when managing taxable income in retirement.
The available funds should be compared by investment objective, risk, expenses, and role within the household portfolio. An allocation should also reflect the time until withdrawals may begin, tolerance for market losses, and assets held outside the plan. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
Changing employers or roles does not necessarily tell you what happened to the earlier account. Review old statements, current recordkeeper records, and plan notices to identify any remaining balance. Once the account is confirmed, compare the available options without assuming that consolidation is automatically preferable.
Confirm the benefit earned when accruals stopped, the earliest and normal commencement dates, the payment forms available, and any survivor protections. A pension may affect the level of investment risk appropriate for the rest of the portfolio, depending on the benefit amount, inflation protection, household income needs, and other assets.
IRAs, taxable investments, former-employer plans, health savings accounts, and a spouse’s retirement plan should be evaluated alongside your Tufts Medicine benefits. Coordinating their investments does not require combining all their accounts. Ownership, plan rules, fees, tax treatment, and available protections should be considered before any transfer or rollover recommendation.
A retirement analysis can combine savings, pension income, Social Security, expected spending, taxes, healthcare costs, and other assets. Modeling a range of retirement dates, using assumptions about investment returns, inflation, and longevity, can show where the plan is resilient and where changes may help. The results are estimates rather than guarantees.
how we work
The process begins with the questions you need answered, then moves from the governing documents to specific recommendations and implementation.
Identify the decisions on your mind, the financial priorities competing for attention, and what your benefits and savings need to accomplish.
Review the legal employer, employee group, and current plan documents, then identify any retirement accounts or pension benefits associated with earlier roles.
Evaluate each available option in the context of your household finances, explain the tradeoffs and organize the decisions by timing and importance.
Put the recommendations into practice, coordinate investments across accounts, and revisit the strategy as your work, family, and financial needs change.
Retirement benefits affect investment, tax, insurance and estate-planning decisions. Reviewing those relationships together can reveal conflicts, gaps and opportunities that account-by-account decisions miss.
Your contribution strategy, the form any pension benefit takes, Social Security, and the income your savings will need to provide throughout retirement.
Workplace accounts and outside investments are evaluated as one household portfolio, with attention to objectives, time horizon, risk tolerance, expenses and tax treatment.
We model how contributions, investments, withdrawals and other income sources may affect taxes and coordinate implementation with your tax professional. Finivi does not prepare tax returns or provide tax advice.
Life and disability coverage can be assessed against income needs, family obligations and the broader financial plan. Finivi is also a licensed insurance brokerage and may receive compensation if an insurance or annuity product is purchased through the firm, creating a conflict of interest. Clients may use any provider.
We review beneficiary designations and the financial implications of an estate plan, identify coordination issues and work with the client’s estate-planning attorney. Finivi does not draft legal documents or provide legal advice.
Financial guidance through a change in role or employer, a move to part-time work, retirement, divorce, an inheritance, caregiving responsibilities, and other major life events.
FAQ
Finivi generally requires $50,000 for its full investment-management service, although our other planning or consulting services may have lower or no asset minimum. Available services and fees depend on the scope of the engagement and will be explained before you decide whether to proceed.
Planning can be useful when you begin a role, change employers, receive a meaningful pay increase, approach vesting, consider retirement or need to make a pension election. Starting before a deadline leaves more time to understand the documents, compare the choices and coordinate related decisions.
Choose a video meeting from wherever you are, or an in-person meeting at our Westborough office.
Independence and plan information. Finivi Inc. is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Tufts Medicine, its member organizations, Fidelity Investments or any labor organization. Employer and plan names are used only to identify the audience this page is intended to serve. Benefit eligibility and plan provisions may vary by employing entity, employee group, hire date, job classification, hours and bargaining-unit status, and may change. Current plan documents, summary plan descriptions and collective-bargaining agreements control.
Nature of this information. The information on this page is general and educational and is not individualized investment, tax or legal advice. Personalized investment-advisory services are provided only under a written agreement after Finivi evaluates the client’s circumstances. Finivi is not a law firm or accounting firm. Consult a qualified attorney or tax professional about your specific situation.
Investment risk and registration. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Advisory services are offered through Finivi Inc., an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training. Review our Form CRS, Form ADV Part 2A, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.