Eligibility
Once a participant, always a participant
YWCA employees become eligible for enrollment after working at least 1,000 hours a year for two years or 1,000 hours for one year, depending on their association's eligibility election. If the former, the two years do not need to be consecutive and prior YWCA work hours count toward eligibility if reemployment occurs within two years.
Once eligible, employees are enrolled on the first of the month following the end of the qualifying year. Participants are immediately vested, which means that they own 100% of their YWCA association’s contributions.
#40Plus
Our contribution to your security
YWCA associations make monthly contributions to participants’ accounts at one of four contribution levels: 3%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10%. YWCARF then credits each account monthly with an additional 40%.
If your association contributes 10% of participants' monthly earnings, the total added to your account is 14%.
With the exclusion of highly compensated employees, participants may also make additional after-tax contributions on a monthly basis. Find out more.
Interest
The last layer of your monthly credit
The interest rate for YWCARF accounts is calculated annually using the average of 10-year U.S. Treasury Securities for the month of October in the preceding year.
2024’s interest rate is 4.8%.
Interest is credited at the end of each month, based on the balance at the beginning of that month.
Receiving Your Benefits
Conditions and requirements
Participants are eligible to receive a distribution of their benefits upon:
- Retirement
- Termination of employment
- Death (payment made to beneficiaries)
The IRS requires that participants begin receiving benefits at age 73, but participants aged 65 or older - who are still working - may choose to begin receiving benefits at any time.
Summary Plan Description
Everything you need to know about your retirement plan
YWCARF’s Summary Plan Description (SPD) has all the information you need to decide your best options for receiving benefits, as well as how to calculate annual annuity, designate a beneficiary, and more.