Massachusetts OBRA Retirement Plan

Non-benefited faculty & staff* and some student employees contribute 7.5% of regular compensation paid by UMass to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts mandatory pre-tax OBRA retirement plan, administrated by Empower Retirement. Contributions are invested in a fixed return account unless they voluntarily work with Empower Retirement to elect different investments. OBRA funds can be withdrawn from, or rolled out of, the plan after employment with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ends so long as re-employment is not anticipated.

Participants should work directly with Empower Retirement (tel: 877.457.1900) regarding investment and withdrawal/rollover options.

PostDoctoral employees and non-benefited faculty & staff can also contribute more to an OBRA retirement account by working directly with Empower Retirement to establish a voluntary OBRA retirement account. Empower Retirement data-feeds contributions into the University's HR Direct payroll system once monthly thus changes in contributions made in Empower's database are effective in the following calendar month.

* These positions may fall under the AFSCME Unit B, PostDoctoral or MSP collective bargaining agreement or may hold a position not affiliated with a union.