San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District Investment Plans Committee

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Message from the Investment Plans Committee (IPC) Regarding Monthly Participant Administrative Fee Holiday

Administrative Fees for the Money Purchase Pension Plan are paid by the participants. From time to time, the administrative accounts used to pay the fees have a sufficient balance that a "fee holiday" is declared. The 457 Deferred Compensation Plan has been on a fee holiday since March 2008. Effective July 1, 2010, the fee holiday extends to the Money Purchase Pension Plan. The current monthly fee of $1.00 per month will no longer be charged to your Money Purchase Pension Plan account. Please note that if plan expenses increase in the future, the IPC reserves the right to begin charging the nominal fee on participant accounts. If you have questions, please contact Peter Horikoshi in BART Benefits at phoriko@bart.gov.

BART's Participant Day Success Story

As the BART Investment Plans Committee (IPC) brings their 6th Annual Participant Day, held on May 24, 2010, to a close, there is still much enthusiasm circulating about the event and the impact that it had on BART employees. The day was filled with presentations, prizes, food, and fun. BART attendees learned the different ways to contribute to their retirement plan account(s), the importance of designating beneficiary information, and how to navigate through Account Access and the BART IPC Web site. ICMA-RC Retirement Plans Specialists were also onsite for individual consultations and to provide one-on-one assistance to participants. If you were unable to attend, you can still take advantage of meeting with a Retirement Plans Specialist by scheduling an appointment. Effective June 1, 2010, appointments will be held on Wednesdays of each week instead of Tuesdays. In addition, you can view the BART Participant Day Presentations that were given during the morning and afternoon sessions of the event. The BART IPC and ICMA-RC want to continue to ensure that you don't miss any opportunity to invest in your retirement future.

Quotes:

"As a new employee, I was quite surprised by how much I absorbed from the presentations given by the ICMA-RC Specialists. Thank you."

"It was a good seminar and BART should have this kind of event more often to let employees keep update-to-date information!"

"My compliments to the Committee on a job well done! I have a great confidence in each of the members. Thank you."

The Importance of Designating a Beneficiary to Your BART Retirement Plan Account(s)

You may think choosing a beneficiary(ies) for your retirement plan(s) is a simple task. Or you may question why you need to choose them in the first place. Financial stability for your family is a key goal for retirement plan participants both during your life and after you're gone. Without designating beneficiaries, your loved ones may not receive your retirement money in the way that you intended. If your beneficiary designation forms are out of date due to marriage, divorce or additions to your family, your retirement money could even be distributed to those you may not wish to receive your assets. Please do not underestimate the importance of keeping designated beneficiaries up to date in your financial records. It's an important factor in your overall financial legacy.

As a participant in the BART 401(a) Money Purchase Pension and/or the BART 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, there are only a few steps to providing updated beneficiary information. The first step is to review your account(s) to determine if you already have correct beneficiary information on file. You can see your beneficiaries by reviewing the "Beneficiary Information" section on your most recent quarterly statement. For a copy of a current statement, log into your account access at www.bartipc.org and then click on "Statements and Confirms" to retrieve a listing of your plan statements. If you need to update your beneficiary information, please complete the BART Beneficiary Designation Form. Please review the BART Beneficiary Designation Form for specific instructions on making designations as well as mailing/fax instructions to have your form processed.

You can view a short educational webcast that provides an overview on selecting your beneficiary designations. It only takes a few minutes to view the educational webinars and complete the form - - take the time now to ensure that your assets are passed along to the beneficiary(ies) that you designate!

Seminars and Individual Consultations Available For BART Participants

The BART Investment Plans Committee (BART IPC) views communication and education as critical components to your retirement planning. BART IPC has contracted with ICMA-RC to provide individual consultation services to BART employees for the 401(a) Money Purchase Pension Plan and the 457 Deferred Compensation Plan. The retirement planning consultations can benefit participants who are in the midst of their career, approaching retirement, and even those who are already retired! An ICMA-RC Retirement Plans Specialist is available at your work site to discuss your retirement goals. You can view the 2010 Summer Schedule and the 2010 Fall Schedule of the Retirement Plans Specialist and the different work locations. In addition, you can schedule a confidential 1-hour appointment with the ICMA-RC Retirement Plans Specialist at the BART headquarters.

In addition to the services provided by ICMA-RC Retirement Plans Specialist, you may also take advantage of the no-charge service provided by ICMA-RC's salary-based Certified Financial Planners (CFP's). William Eagan, CPA, CFP; is on site on a monthly basis at BART headquarters to meet with BART plan participants, both active and retired. Bill is available to discuss a wide range of financial planning issues as well as your BART retirement plans. You can reach Bill at (510)-249-9233 to make an appointment.