Plan Details

Welcome to the Optional Retirement Plan for Higher Education (ORPHE). As a participant in ORPHE, you have an opportunity to lay the foundation to meet your future retirement needs. Your partners are your employer, your plan provider and the Virginia Retirement System (VRS).

Eligible ORPHE Participants

The following employees are eligible to participate in ORPHE:

• Presidents of participating public institutions of higher education.
• Chancellors and presidents of the Virginia Community College System.
• Full-time and part-time permanent, salaried teaching, research and administrative faculty members of participating public institutions (adjunct faculty members are not eligible for ORPHE).

Plan 1 and Plan 2

ORPHE Plans 1 and 2 are defined contribution plans where vesting is immediate. The total balance in your account is available to you when you leave covered employment and are not re-employed by a VRS-participating employer. The benefit depends on the contributions provided to the plan and the investment performance of those contributions. Although most features of the two plans are the same, a few areas of difference are highlighted below.

For full details about your plan, please refer to the Optional Retirement Plan for Higher Education Handbook for Participants  .

You are covered under ORPHE Plan 1 if you have an ORP membership date before July 1, 2010, and maintain an account balance or an annuity. If you have a pre‐July 1, 2010, ORP account balance and moved to a defined benefit plan, you must have any combination of VRS defined benefit service credit and/or ORP participation that totals five years as of January 1, 2013, to be considered a Plan 1 member.

Contributions	10.4% employer contribution
Normal Retirement Age	Age 65 with a combination of at least five years of VRS defined benefit service credit and/or ORP participation.
Earliest Eligibility for Group Life Insurance in Retirement	Age 55 with a combination of at least five years of VRS defined benefit service credit and/or ORP participation or age 50 with a combination of at least 10 years of VRS defined benefit service credit and/or ORP participation.
Eligibility for the Health Insurance Credit	Age 50 and at least 15 years of VRS defined benefit service credit and/or ORP participation at retirement. Pay health insurance premiums for individual coverage under qualifying health plans.

You are covered under ORPHE Plan 2 if you have an ORP membership date after July 1, 2010, and maintain an account balance or an annuity.

Contributions	5% pretax employee contribution, plus 8.5% employer contribution. Your institution may increase the employer contribution up to a maximum of 8.9%, provided the increase is approved by your institution’s governing body and paid from non-state funds.
Normal Retirement Age	Normal Social Security retirement age.
Earliest Eligibility for Group Life Insurance in Retirement	Age 60 with a combination of at least five years of VRS defined benefit service credit and/or ORP participation or when age and combined VRS defined benefit service credit and/or ORP participation equal 90. Example: Age 58 with 32 years of VRS defined benefit service credit.
Eligibility for the Health Insurance Credit	Age 60 and at least 15 years of VRS defined benefit service credit and/or ORP participation at retirement. All other requirements are the same as Plan 1.