Preparing for Retirement

All FCPS employees thinking about retirement should review this material. 

NOTE: This information is not intended to be a comprehensive reference and should be reviewed in conjunction with other FCPS benefits materials. In the event of any conflict between official benefit plan documents, benefit contracts, and this information, the official information will govern.

Retirement Pension Plans

A retirement pension plan (also called a defined benefit plan) is a retirement plan that an employer sponsors, where employee benefits are computed using a formula that considers factors, such as length of employment, salary history, and age.

Fairfax County Public Schools participates in three different mandatory pension plans to help you achieve your retirement goals. They are administered by the following independent agencies:

• The Virginia Retirement System (VRS) and the Educational Employees' Supplementary Retirement System of Fairfax County (ERFC) for full-time educational, administrative, and operational employees.
• The Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System (FCERS) for maintenance, custodial, food service, transportation, and less-than-full-time educational, administrative, and operational employees.

Supplemental Retirement Savings Plans

A supplemental retirement savings plan (also called a defined contribution plan) allows you to set aside pre-tax dollars through convenient payroll deductions to save for retirement. You choose a percentage of your salary to be invested in mutual funds or annuities available you select inside the retirement plan. The amount you have at retirement depends on how much you as the employee save in the plan, how long you keep those funds invested, and how well your investments perform inside the plan.

• 403(b) for all FCPS employees. If you are eligible for the 457(b) program, you may participate in both plans.
• 457(b) for full-time and part-time salaried employees of FCPS.

VRS Hybrid 457 

This defined contribution plan for all Hybrid Retirement Plan members. This plan gives you the opportunity to make additional contributions and receive partial matching contributions from FCPS. You may participate in this plan even if you are also participating in the 403(b) or 457(b) plan.