Savings and Pension Plans: What You Should Know to Plan for Retirement

As Carilion employees, you don’t have to choose between a retirement savings plan and a pension plan—we offer both!

When making the decision to start a financial plan for your future, it’s helpful to understand the difference between the two to help you meet your retirement goals. 

Retirement Savings Plans

Our retirement savings plans are held at Principal, a global company focused on helping individuals and businesses build and protect their financial well-being. Either a 401(k) or 403(b) retirement savings plan is offered to you, depending upon where you work at Carilion.

The retirement savings plans—401(k) and 403(b—allow you to contribute a portion of your salary to a retirement account through automatic payroll deductions. You can either contribute to the traditional savings plan (pre-tax) or to the Roth (post-tax), or to both the traditional and Roth. However you choose to contribute, your total contribution amount cannot exceed the IRS annual limit each year (see 2025 IRS Contribution Limits).

When you are hired (since July 15, 2012), you are automatically enrolled in the savings plan at 3%. If you don’t want to participate, you can opt out within 30 days (see For Employees Hired July 15 2012 and After) through Principal. Your contribution automatically increases by 1% each year until you are contributing 10% of your pay to the retirement savings plan. However, you can opt out or change that amount at any time. 

You control how your retirement savings plan is invested by making elections through Principal. The size of your account balance at retirement is determined by your contributions and your investment earnings. 

Getting Started

If you already have an account with Principal, use your existing credentials to access your retirement savings plan.

• If you're new to Principal, visit principal.com/welcome and select Get Started. Watch a welcome video for highlights on accessing your plan.

Two-factor authentication is an important security step, so it’s a good idea to elect to receive a verification code every time you log in. Additionally, you will need to designate your beneficiary with Principal for each savings plan in which you participate (see Designating Your Beneficiary).

What Principal Has to Offer

Principal has many tools and resources to help you meet your savings goals, including:

• Principal Milestones is a financial wellness portal where you can learn about a variety of topics—some of which include building a budget, downsizing debt and paying off student loans, buying a home, creating a will or power of attorney and more.
• Principal Retire Secure provides a team of retirement educators who are available to meet virtually one-on-one with you to help you understand your personal retirement goals and create a plan for your future. This is no additional cost to you.
• Join a 30-minute webinar! Chat live with Principal representatives to get answers to your specific financial questions. Webinars are held the third Wednesday of each month at 2 p.m. throughout 2025.

Pension Plan

Unlike many organizations that have replaced pension plans with 401(k) savings plans, we still provide a pension plan in addition to savings plans.

A pension plan offers a guaranteed income in retirement. When you are eligible to start your pension, you begin receiving a regular, fixed payment for life.

You don’t have to put any money into the plan. Carilion makes all contributions to the pension plan and bears the investment risk, so the benefit you receive is not based on the market.

Participating in Your Pension

You automatically participate in the plan after you are 21 and have worked at least 1,000 hours during the first 12 months after your hire date (or during any plan year).

Once you have 5 years of credited service, you are vested in the pension plan. This means you have full rights to your benefits at your normal retirement date. When you retire, in most cases, you will receive a monthly benefit for life.

Applying for Your Pension

To apply for pension benefits, submit the pension application and retirement planning form at least 120 days (4 months) before you want to receive your first payment. This will allow:

• 45 days for the Benefits Service Center (BSC) to calculate your estimated benefits
• 30 to 90 days for you to choose a payment option, sign and return the election forms

Calculating Your Benefits

To calculate your pension benefits:

Use the formula that is included in the Summary Plan Description or the Pension Estimator Tool. 

Questions?

• For questions about your retirement savings plans, contact Principal at 800-547-7754 to speak to a representative, Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.
• For questions about your pension plan, contact the HR Service Center at HRServiceCenter@carilionclinic.org.