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Do you work at The State University of New York (SUNY)? Get the resources you need and expert insights from financial professionals who specialize in helping SUNY faculty and staff make the most of their compensation package and benefits.
Whether you’re a new SUNY faculty or staff member, or you’ve moved up the ranks into a SUNY leadership role over a multi-year career, it’s important to make smart money moves with your income and benefits. For example:
✅ Do you know the right moves to make to get the greatest value from the SUNY benefits available to you?
✅If you’re thinking about leaving SUNY for another job or planning to retire in a few years, are you taking the right steps today to ensure you will receive all of the compensation and benefits that you’ve earned?
Get the Most Value from Your SUNY Benefits and Compensation Package
Throughout the year, SUNY provides its faculty and professional staff with updates about their benefits ranging from health insurance and health savings plans to retirement plans like a 403(b). While SUNY offers many useful resources and access to knowledgeable staff who can assist with questions, you’ll also find financial professionals not affiliated with SUNY who specialize in helping SUNY faculty and staff make the most of their income and benefits.
Whether you work for SUNY in Albany, New York, another regional location, or remotely from home, you may have questions about your compensation package and benefits better suited for a financial professional who can offer unbiased advice and guidance.
For example, sensitive topics like discussing the steps you should take before quitting your position at SUNY to work elsewhere or deciding when you should plan to retire are all conversations that may be more comfortable with a trusted financial advisor.
Should you hire a SUNY specialist financial advisor or an advisor close to home?
You’ll likely find dozens of nearby financial advisors well-suited to help you reach your money goals with a personalized plan. But it may be more difficult to find a financial advisor who specializes in serving SUNY faculty and staff.
Fortunately, many financial advisors offer virtual services so you can meet online no matter where you (or they) live.
This means you can choose to hire a specialist financial advisor regardless of their location if you decide their knowledge and experience working with SUNY faculty and staff is a better fit to help with your unique needs.
💡 In the Q&A below, you’ll gain insights from financial advisors who work with SUNY faculty and staff to help them make smart decisions to get the most value from their compensation and benefits, reduce their money stress, and prepare for a comfortable retirement.
🙋♀️ Do you have questions not yet answered? Use the form below to submit questions anonymously and watch this article for updates with answers to your questions. You can also reach out to the financial advisors below to set up an introductory call or contact them with your questions by email.
💸 Smart Money Insights for SUNY Faculty & Staff
This page is organized into sections to help you quickly find the information you need and get answers to your questions:
- Q&A: Financial Planning Tips for SUNY Faculty & Staff
- Get Answers to Your Questions About Your SUNY Benefits and Career
- Browse Related Articles
Q&A: Financial Planning Tips for SUNY Faculty and Staff
Answers to SUNY Faculty and Staff Questions with Steve Witter, CFP®, CSLP®
Steve Witter is a financial advisor based in Williamsville, New York who specializes in offering financial planning services to SUNY faculty and staff. Steve helps his clients get the most value from their SUNY benefits and compensation package so they can enjoy life and feel confident about their financial future.
Q: As a financial advisor with experience helping SUNY faculty and professional staff save for their retirement, how do you help them make the most of their benefits?
Steve: Currently they can choose from 4 options (TIAA, Fidelity, Voya and Corebridge), none of which offer the personal financial planning that many are looking for. Here is a list of the things we help with:
- Help choosing the best Optional Retirement Program (ORP) provider for your needs
- Investment management of your ORP and 403(b) plans
- Saving for college
- Retirement planning
- Tax planning to minimize the taxes paid now and in retirement
- Roth conversion guidance
- When to claim Social Security
- Cash flow, savings, and debt management
Q: When you first speak with a SUNY faculty or staff member, what questions do you like to ask to better understand their unique circumstances and determine how you can best help them achieve their goals?
Steve: How they are managing their retirement plans and what are their retirement goals? Who is managing their ORP and 403(b) plan?
Q: Is there a particular benefit available to SUNY faculty and staff you feel isn’t as well utilized or understood as it should be?
Steve: How the ORP plan works and the need for a 403(b) or 457 as well.
Q: Beyond SUNY benefits for retirement savings, are there other types of benefits offered by SUNY that you find valuable to discuss with your clients?
Steve: Life insurance benefit and health insurance in retirement.
Q: For SUNY employees thinking about leaving to accept a job elsewhere, what actions do you recommend they take before resigning and shortly thereafter?
Steve: Review portability of the retirement plans (ORP, 403b, 457, etc.).
Q: For SUNY faculty and staff approaching retirement age, how do you recommend they prepare to make the transition from living off their salary to relying upon other sources of income?
Steve: Review their retirement plans and have a plan for how they want to withdraw money from the various accounts to minimize taxes paid in retirement.
Q: For SUNY faculty and staff who have managed their finances on their own to this point, what would you suggest they consider to help them decide if they should begin working with a financial advisor at this stage in their lives?
Steve: Accumulating assets in retirement plans is easier then deciding how to withdraw them in retirement and minimize the taxes owed. It is important to have an independent party review decisions so you are not taking too much from your accounts or taking too little and not enjoying your retirement that you worked so hard for.
Q: What are some of the unique financial planning challenges you commonly see among your clients who are SUNY faculty and staff members and how do you help them overcome these obstacles?
Steve: Not saving enough for retirement. Just relying on the ORP plan. We open 403b/457 plans to save for retirement. Not understanding how to maintain the NYS tax free nature of their ORP plan.
Q: What questions do you recommend SUNY faculty and staff ask financial advisors they’re considering hiring to help them decide if they’re a good fit?
Steve: Are you fee-only? Do you work with other SUNY employees? How do you get paid? What is your investment approach?
Q: Is there anything that comes up frequently in your initial meeting with SUNY faculty and staff members that surprises you?
Steve: They are used to being serviced by a 1-800 number or a representative assigned to the entire university, so there is no financial planning being offered to employees who are looking for it.
Q: Is there a particularly memorable experience or a moment you recall with a client who worked at SUNY when you realized they have unique opportunities and circumstances when it comes to their financial planning needs?
Steve: Not many financial advisors can work with SUNY employees while they are still working. Those that can tend to work for the high cost insurance options. We believe in using the low cost options (TIAA and Fidelity) and adding the personal financial planning.
Get to Know Steve Witter, Financial Advisor for SUNY Faculty and Staff:
View Steve’s profile page on Wealthtender or visit his website to learn more.
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About the Author
Brian Thorp
Founder and CEO, Wealthtender
Brian and his wife live in Texas, enjoying the diversity of Houston and the vibrancy of Austin.
With over 25 years in the financial services industry, Brian is applying his experience and passion at Wealthtender to help more people enjoy life with less money stress.
To make Wealthtender free for readers, we earn money from advertisers, including financial professionals and firms that pay to be featured. This creates a conflict of interest when we favor their promotion over others. Read our editorial policy and terms of service to learn more. Wealthtender is not a client of these financial services providers.
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