HR finally got back to me about my questions, still they could only answer a few (and some incorrectly) and then they put me in touch with the financial adviser that sets up these systems for them. I'm writing this out as much for me as anyone else, it's an odd system. As that adviser told it to me it actually works this way:
- Employer puts 3% of salary* into 401(a) automatically. -> *salary is limited by the IRS to no more than $260,000/year in 2015. So, it's not 3% of actual higher salary, bummer.
- Employee can contribute up to $18,000 into a 403(b).
- Employee can NOT contribute to 401(a), in this particular plan, though it is actually legal according to the IRS.
- Once employee contributes to 403(b), then the employer will match that money up to 5% of salary* ($260,000 limit) in the 401(a). weird.
- The total amount contributed to 403(b), 401(a) [and 401(k) if there were one] is $53,000, but under this plan it's impossible to get there.
- Contributions to 403(b) can be pre- or post- tax, but 401(a) and 457 are both pre-tax.
- None of this affects contribution limits to the 457, which is also $18,000, and the 457 contribution does not count towards the $53,000 limit.
- Employee does get to control invest allocations in all the 401(a) [this is not always the case]
- So the total we will be able to put away under this particular plan is (.03*260,000)+(.05*260,000) = $20,800 in 401(a) all "free" money. $18,000 in 403(b) and $18,000 in 457. Total = $56,800. It's not the $98,000 I thought it was going to be, but it's not bad either.
401(a)'s and 457's are weird.