Understanding the Temple University Health System Retirement Plan: FAQs for Temple Faculty Physicians

As a faculty physician in the Temple University Health System, your retirement planning is a critical component of your financial wellness. Below, we’ve compiled and answered the most frequently asked questions about the Temple University Hospital Retirement Plan to help you better understand your options, benefits, and next steps.

1. How can I withdraw from the Temple University Hospital 403(b) Retirement Plan?

Withdrawals from the Temple University Hospital Retirement Plan typically depend on the type of account and your employment status. If your plan is administered through TIAA (as is common for Temple Health), you may be eligible for:

• Withdrawals upon separation from service

• In-service withdrawals at a certain age (usually 59½)

• Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) starting at age 73 (as of 2025 regulations)

  
  

There may be restrictions or tax implications based on the type of plan (403(b), 401(a), etc.). It's advisable to consult with your tax advisor and/or a TIAA representative before initiating a withdrawal.

You may also be eligible to take a loan up to to $45,000-50,000 or up to 45-50% of the amount in the plan, whichever is less. Typically loans have to be paid back within 5 years in our experience or upon leaving employment at TUHS. You should consult your plan document and/or the benefits people at TUHS to confirm any terms of a withdrawal or a 403(b) loan before taking any action.

D.R. Harris & Co. Pro Tip: Always confirm eligibility and tax implications before initiating withdrawals to avoid penalties.

2. What is the phone number for the Temple University Hospital Retirement Plan?

While there isn’t a single "retirement plan phone number," you can contact Temple University Human Resources or TIAA (if your plan is with them) for assistance.

• TUHS 403(b) Plan Sponsor: Frederick Berger, Director of Benefits and Pension Administration at Temple University Health System: 215-707-5977

• TIAA (Temple Health Plan Support): 1-800-842-2252

• You can also access TIAA customer support online at www.tiaa.org

  
  

3. Is there a Temple University Hospital Retirement Plan calculator?

Here is a popular retirement plan calculator from BankRate: https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/retirement-plan-calculator/

If you are a physician at Temple University Health and find that you are off track according to BankRate you may benefit from talking about your situation with a fiduciary financial advisor like D.R. Harris & Co.

You can reach out to schedule a 15 minute introductory call with Daniel Harris here.

Alternatively if you'd like to learn more about Daniel Harris and D.R. Harris & Co. you can do so here or here.

4. What retirement benefits does Temple University offer and how does D.R. Harris & Co. rate the TUHS 403(b) and 401(a) retirement plans?

D.R. Harris & Co. rates the TUHS 403(b) and 401(a) retirement plans as: Satisfactory

Here is the reasoning behind our rating:

• The TUHS 403(b) Retirement Savings Plan has a mandatory requirement that 4.5% of earnings go into this plan up to IRS limits, to our knowledge, and eligibilty to contribute begins 1 month after employment.

• Employer contributions into a 401(a) Retirement Savings Plan [10% of compensation is contributed by Temple up to the IRS limits and employer contributions vest over 3 years assuming 1,000 hours of work per year]

• TIAA is one of the better providers of 403(b) (but not the very best in our view)

• There are tax deferred

• 3 year Vesting schedules for employer contributions, if that is the case are above average for industry standards.

So what can be improved about the TUHS 403(b) Plan?

The first thing to understand as a physician is that if you work for a not for profit hospital group you are at a major disadvantage in your retirement plan because by law you have to have a 403(b) instead a 401(k).

The primary difference between a 403(b) and 401(k) is that a 403(b) can only hold mutual funds (it cannot hold individual stocks, or exchange traded index funds).

A 401(k) can hold mutual funds like a 403(b) and it can hold individual stocks or exchange traded funds, which gives it a massive advantage.

You may wonder - aren't mutual funds and exchange traded funds pretty much the same thing? The answer is they aren't even close.

A mutual fund requires a contract between the brokerage firm, in this case TIAA, in order for customers to buy it. An exchange traded fund, does not require a contract from a brokerage firm and anyone from any brokerage firm can buy it.

With mutual funds, brokerage firms have the ability to squeeze the fund company, which ultimately the costs and fees to physicians who are investing in those funds. It doesn't always happen - but basically the brokerage firm has a thoat to choke here and they often use their leverage to get revenue shares or other forms of compensation that benefit the broker but can hurt the customer.

Now, this leverage does not exist with exchange traded funds. All an exchange traded fund has to do is list it shares on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq and it doesn't require any contracts with brokerage firms for that brokerage firm customer to buy it. So the brokerage firm lacks leverage in this case to squeeze the fund exchange traded fund company in any way.

So basically if you have a 401(k) with a brokerage window you can buy the least expensive funds on the entire market because in order to compete these funds have to offer competitive pricing because they compete against every other fund company out there. There may be as many as 4,000 or more listed exchange traded funds in the US and so there is a lot competition which benefits physician investors with a 401(k).

But if you have a 403(b) because you are directly employed by a University of a non-profit hospital group it becomes critical who the financial company on the plan is and how good their mutual fund offerings are and whether they have a brokerage window with a company that is great at mutual funds.

Today there are really two brokers that are great at mutual funds in our view - Fidelity is the best and Vanguard is second best. What makes these companies good is that customers using their brokerage windows have access to low fees and a broad selection of mutual funds. Fidelity's fees are sometimes even lower than Vanguard's but both are great companies in our view.

What would improve the TUHS 403(b) is if they have a self directed brokerage option runn through either Vanguard or Fidelity. Other universities like the University of Southern California have this, so it is possible, it is just a master of including it in the plan.

Overall TIAA is a very good company, so this is nothing against TIAA - but physicians have to be their own financial advocates and generally if they request a brokerage window with Fidelity or Vanguard - they can often improve their 403(b)s in my view.

As for making the entire system better, the rule that physicians at non-profit hospitals can only invest in mutual funds comes from Congress and the Internal Revenue Code.

At the time Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code was created in the 1950s it was originally for church employees, and then in the 1960s it was expanded to educational institutions. The thinking was people who worked at non-profits were less likely to be business savvy than people who worked at for profit businesses do they needed level of protection in the financial products they could invest in.

Of course in the 1970s, University Hospitals were fairly small and they weren't these regionwide networks that we see today. The situation we have today pushes a lot of highly sophisiticated university employees (i.e professors) and physicians into a mutual fund only system which disadvantages them both compared to people who work for the state (who can invest in ETFs through their 457(b)s typically) and people who work for for profit medical groups (who can invest in ETFs through their 401(k).

Our firm is not political and we don't make up the rules, but we have always been and will always strongly on the side of advocating for physicians who do important work for society. Some of the most important work happens at not for profit instutions, where physicians often take less pay in order to work on research or teach residents as well as practice clinical medicine. But sadly our retirement system, still unqiuely penalizes not for profit physicians by not giving them access to stocks, bonds, and exchange traded funds directly through their 403(b)s which are uniquely are still mutual fund only as of the writing of this article.

If you don't like that rule or don't think it is fair - you Congress person has the ability to change it - and only they have the ability to ammend to Internal Revenue Code to fix this inequity between physicians who work at for profit institutions or for the state or local government compared to physicians who work at not for profit hospitals and universities.

5. Does Temple University offer a 403(b) match or similar contribution?

To our knowledge TUHS does not match 403(b) contributions.

But this is not a bad thing. By putting up to 10% of a TFP physician's salary into the 401(a) whether they contribute or not TUHS is already makig substantial contributions to Temple Faculty Physicians retirement.

Generally speaking if you could have a 401(k) match at a company or a 401(a) contrbution from a University, generally the 401(a) contribution from the University will be higher than most companies 401(k) match.

Universities are generally very protective of their employees and they do generally treat them very well, from a retirement point of view, in our experience.

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6. What is TIAA's role with Temple Health?

TIAA is the financial vendor for many Temple Health employees, including faculty physicians.

Through TIAA, we believe you can:

• Enroll or adjust retirement contributions

• Choose from investment options

• Access retirement income planning tools

  
  

If you're a participant, visit tiaa.org/templehealth or call 1-800-842-2252 for personalized support.

7. How do I contact Temple University Human Resources?

Temple University Human Resources may be contacted at the following number: 215-204-7174

Or you may visit their offices at Mitten Hall or at the Health Sciences Center as laid out on the following website: https://careers.temple.edu/about-hr/office-locations

But your primary contact for your retirement plan is generally going to be the plan sponsor's office - who can generally direct you to the resources you need.

8. Where can I find a PDF of the Temple Health Employee Benefits?

Temple Health usually publishes a comprehensive Employee Benefits Guide each year. You can:

• Request a copy from Temple HR

• Access it through your internal employee portal

• Check the HR website: hr.temple.edu/benefits

The PDF typically outlines medical, dental, retirement, life insurance, and wellness benefits.

Final Thoughts

As a physician, your focus is on patient care—but your financial well-being is just as important. Understanding the Temple University Hospital Retirement Plan empowers you to make smart, informed decisions about your future. For personalized guidance, consider speaking with a fiduciary financial advisor who understands the unique challenges and opportunities of physician retirement planning.

Disclaimer: While we believe the information in this article is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time it was written, you should check with your HR department and plan document to confirm the accuracy of anything that is written here.  You are not a client of D.R. Harris & Co. without a signed written contract from D.R. Harris & Co. This article is designed to be educational in nature but we are not your financial advisor unless you have a written signed advisory agreement with us. We advise you to do your own research and consult with your own tax, legal and financial advisor (if you have one) before acting any information that you read about in this article.