What this guide covers
- Why your UMass employer matters
- How the pension, 401(k), and 403(b) fit together
- The pension, including the enhanced-match election
- Why 4% is the floor for the 401(k) match
- How the three-year or age-55 vesting rule works
- How the 401(k) and 403(b) contribution limits interact
- The 2026 catch-up contribution rules
- How the 15-year hospital catch-up works
- A worked UMass Memorial retirement snapshot
- Six items worth checking this quarter
- How to put these decisions into one retirement plan
Why your UMass employer matters
Two large employers in Worcester carry the UMass name, their campuses adjoin, and their staff work side by side. Their retirement systems have almost nothing in common. Before any other decision, confirm which entity appears on your W-2 form.
UMass Memorial Health
Covered by Social Security and governed by ERISA.
Benefits may include a defined benefit pension, a 401(k) with employer match, and a 403(b) for many caregivers.
Includes: Worcester, Marlborough, Leominster, Clinton, Milford, and the Medical Group.
UMass Chan Medical School
Employees contribute to a state retirement system in lieu of Social Security.
Retirement benefits may include MSERS or the Optional Retirement Program, the University 403(b), and the SMART Plan 457(b).
Key difference: participation in one mandatory retirement plan is required rather than optional.
The Social Security Fairness Act, signed in January 2025, repealed the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset for benefits payable beginning in January 2024. Anyone who ran a retirement projection before that change, and who has Social Security credits from other work or a spousal benefit, should revisit the calculation.
The remainder of this guide addresses UMass Memorial Health. Provisions described here come from UMass Memorial’s published benefits materials and from the contract materials of SHARE, the union representing a large bargaining unit at the Medical Center. Benefits vary by location, entity, bargaining unit, and hire date. Your Summary Plan Description governs.
Three plans, one paycheck
The pension, in brief
The plan’s actuarial filing describes the pension as partially frozen, which is not the same as closed. As of the October 1, 2024 valuation, 9,506 employees were actively accruing benefits, and 3,515 of them had between one and four years of credited service. Employees hired within the last few years were still entering the plan.
Eligibility generally begins after a twelve-month, 1,000-hour year of service, and vesting generally takes three years, with a five-year rule still applying to certain collectively bargained groups.
Under a 2007 amendment, employees who elect the enhanced employer matching contribution in the 401(k) plan are not eligible for the pension. The two are alternatives rather than a package.
Physicians and clinical PhD staff hired after January 1, 2000 participate in a separate program as well. If you do not know which side of the pension-versus-enhanced-match election you are on, establish that first because it changes the value of every other decision described here.
Want the pension formula and payment rules in detail? See our companion article, Understanding Your UMass Memorial Health Care Pension, for the earnings freeze at the end of 2016, early-retirement reductions, payment forms, and how the lump sum is calculated.
The short version worth carrying into the rest of this guide: the reduction for starting early is permanent and can be larger than many employees expect, and the pension carries no cost-of-living adjustment. Inflation protection is therefore a job your savings may need to do.
The match: 4% is the floor, not the target
One qualifier before the numbers: the plan’s actuarial filing refers to an enhanced employer matching contribution in the 401(k), election of which removes pension eligibility. The formula below is the match described in SHARE contract materials for the bargaining unit they represent. If you elected the enhanced match, your formula is different and is not stated in the public filing cited here.
UMass Memorial matches 50 cents per dollar on the first 4% of pay. Contributing 4% produces the full employer contribution of 2% of pay, and that is the point at which the employer’s share stops growing. Your own share does not. Every percentage point above 4% continues to add to the account at full value; it simply arrives without an additional match.
The distinction matters because a 2% employer match is modest. Contributing 4% puts 6% of pay into the plan, which may still be well short of what a retirement projection requires. A smaller match does not necessarily mean less saving is needed; it means more of the work falls to your own contribution rate.
There are two separate decisions here. The first is capturing the match. The second is choosing a rate above 4%, funded entirely by you, which is where most of the eventual account balance can come from. A common sequence is to reach 4% immediately and then raise the rate gradually, often alongside annual pay increases.
Three years of service, or age 55, whichever comes first
Your own 401(k) contributions are yours immediately. The employer match follows an unusual vesting rule: participants become fully vested in UMass Memorial’s contributions after three years of service or upon reaching age 55, whichever comes first.
Vested after three years
Employer contributions remain at risk if the employee leaves before completing the service test.
Vested at age 55
The age test can vest employer contributions roughly two years earlier than the three-year service test would have allowed.
One deferral limit, two plans, two annual additions limits
Employees eligible for both the 401(k) and the 403(b) frequently assume that two plans mean two complete sets of contribution room. Half of that is right.
Section 402(g) caps elective deferrals at $24,500 for 2026, and that cap attaches to the person rather than to each plan. Deferrals to the 401(k) and 403(b) count against the same number. Funding both to the maximum creates an excess deferral.
Section 415(c) works differently. The annual additions limit is $72,000 for 2026 and generally applies separately to each plan. It counts your deferrals plus employer contributions. That separate ceiling is one reason the second plan can have value even though there is no second elective-deferral allowance.
Catch-ups in 2026, including the one that replaces rather than adds
Three catch-up provisions may apply, and 2026 changed how two of them work.
| Provision | 2026 amount | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Standard catch-up | $8,000 | Age 50 through 59, and age 64 and older. Total possible elective deferrals: $32,500. |
| Higher catch-up | $11,250 | Those who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the year. Total possible elective deferrals: $35,750. This amount replaces the $8,000 catch-up rather than adding to it. |
| 15-year service catch-up | Up to $3,000 | 403(b) participants with 15 years of service at a qualifying employer, subject to a $15,000 lifetime cap and the calculation described below. |
If your Social Security wages from this employer in 2025 exceeded $150,000, your 2026 age-based catch-up contributions must generally be made on a Roth basis. Regular deferrals up to the basic $24,500 limit may still be pre-tax, Roth, or split, subject to the plan’s available options.
The planning consequence is that a catch-up which previously reduced current taxable income may no longer do so. If you were relying on that deduction, the payroll election worth reviewing is the one that specifies pre-tax versus Roth treatment.
The 15-year hospital rule, and why your 401(k) reduces it
The 15-year service catch-up is available only through a 403(b), and only at certain qualifying employers. A hospital is one of the categories named in the statute, which can put long-tenured UMass Memorial employees in an unusual position: an additional elective-deferral allowance that colleagues at many other employers do not have.
The amount is the lesser of three figures: $3,000; $15,000 reduced by prior 15-year catch-ups; or $5,000 multiplied by years of service with the employer, minus prior elective deferrals to the employer’s plans.
That third test is where UMass Memorial’s structure matters. The subtraction counts deferrals to the employer’s 403(b), 401(k), SARSEP, and SIMPLE plans. Years of contributing to the UMass Memorial 401(k) can therefore reduce the 15-year catch-up available through the 403(b).
Full $3,000 indicated
Benchmark: 18 × $5,000 = $90,000
Lifetime deferrals to both plans: $62,000
Difference: $28,000
Catch-up available: the full $3,000, subject to the lifetime cap and plan terms.
Zero indicated
Benchmark: 18 × $5,000 = $90,000
Lifetime deferrals to both plans: $148,000
Difference: none
Catch-up available: zero under this test.
A worked UMass Memorial retirement snapshot
The example below uses the same figures as the worked illustration in the source guide: $75,000 of annual eligible pay, age 52, two years of service, $72,000 of 2025 Social Security wages, a 2% 401(k) contribution rate, no current 403(b) contribution, and $62,000 of lifetime deferrals to UMass Memorial plans.
This is educational arithmetic based on the figures shown above. It does not retrieve payroll, plan, or account information, and it does not model the pension, Social Security, investment returns, taxes, nondiscrimination testing, or plan-specific contribution caps.
Actual results depend on the provisions that apply to your employing entity, bargaining unit, hire date, and location. Confirm plan-specific figures with your Summary Plan Description and plan administrator.
Six items worth checking this quarter
- Your 401(k) contribution rate, first against 4% and then against your own target. Reaching 4% is the change on this list the employer helps pay for under the SHARE match formula. Choosing the rate above it is what determines how much more of your own money is going toward retirement.
- Your vesting position, tested both ways. Check service and age. The age-55 test is the one people are most likely to overlook.
- Your combined deferrals if you use both plans. For 2026, the basic elective-deferral limit is $24,500 across the 401(k) and 403(b), not $24,500 in each.
- Whether your age-based catch-up must now be Roth. For 2026, the relevant prior-year wage threshold is $150,000 of Social Security wages from the employer.
- Which side of the pension election you are on. Confirm whether you elected the enhanced 401(k) match and therefore whether you are accruing a pension at all. If you are in the pension, confirm the vesting rule and your current estimate.
- Any departure or retirement inside the next twenty-four months. Vesting dates, pension eligibility, and the treatment of a partial year of service deserve attention before a resignation date is set rather than after.
Put these decisions in one plan
The decisions above do not stand alone. A contribution rate depends on cash flow, debt, and what else you are saving toward. A pension decision depends on survivor needs, other household assets, and when you intend to stop working. A vesting date matters only against a departure date. Read one at a time, each can look like a separate benefits choice; read together, they trade against one another.
We work with UMass Memorial employees on how these pieces fit alongside the rest of the picture: taxes, investments held outside the plan, insurance, Social Security timing, and the retirement date itself.
Ready to make the most of your UMass Memorial benefits?
We can help you connect the pension, 401(k), 403(b), Social Security, taxes, and retirement timing in one plan.
A conversation can include:
- Confirming which retirement plans and match formula apply to your position
- Reviewing your contribution rate and remaining 2026 deferral room
- Checking pension and employer-contribution vesting before a job change or retirement
- Coordinating workplace benefits with Social Security, taxes, and outside savings
Finivi Inc. is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by UMass Memorial Health Care, Inc., UMass Chan Medical School, the University of Massachusetts, SHARE, or any affiliated entity. These employers and organizations are named here only to identify groups of employees the firm serves. References to benefit provisions come from publicly available employer, union, and plan materials and are included for identification and educational purposes. This material is educational and is not personalized investment, tax, accounting, or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security or to adopt any particular strategy. Benefits vary by employing entity, hire date, bargaining unit, and location and are subject to change. Plans described here have been amended over time and may be amended again. If anything here conflicts with a plan document or Summary Plan Description, those documents govern. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Advisory services offered through Finivi Inc., an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Registration does not imply any particular level of skill or training.
