Withdrawals

You can withdraw money from your vested account balance once you’ve terminated County employment or if you encounter a serious financial hardship. Among them are:

• Illness or accident.
• Unreimbursed medical expenses.
• Prevention of eviction or mortgage foreclosure.
• Certain expenses for repairing your principal residence if the expenses qualify as a casualty deduction.

Before making a hardship withdrawal, you must exhaust other options. In addition, you cannot contribute to the plan for 18 months after the withdrawal.

To request a withdrawal, you can:

• Log on to your account at vanguard.com/retirementplan. Your request will be forwarded to the Comptroller’s Office Payroll Department. However, you will still need to deliver your supporting documentation to the Comptroller’s Office Payroll Department to complete your request.
• Call a Vanguard Participant Services associate at 800-523-1188 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Eastern Time. After your conversation, the associate will send you a request form. You must sign the form and return it to the Comptroller’s Office Payroll Department, along with your supporting documentation, to complete your request.

Note: The Comptroller’s Office Payroll Department must approve all hardship withdrawal requests.

Tax implications: You will be responsible for paying any federal, state, local, or foreign taxes on a distribution or withdrawal from pre-tax accounts. A distribution or withdrawal of Roth 457(b) earnings is usually also taxable unless the initial Roth contribution was made more than five years ago, you have left the employer. To the extent required by law, Vanguard will make the appropriate withholding for tax purposes.

All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of the money you invest.