Month: January 2011

The Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) have joined together to create a new joint publication, WRS News.  WRS News replaces ETF’s former publication, Trust Fund News and SWIB’s former publication, The SWIB Report.

The first issue of WRS News, January, 2011, is available for you at http://etf.wi.gov/publications/WRS%20News/wrs_news201101.pdf

WRS News will provide members of the Wisconsin Retirement System with news and information on the direct relationship between the management and investment of WRS assets and your WRS benefits.

The newsletter is divided into two sections:  ETF’s Benefits section will provide updates and information about WRS retirement benefits.

SWIB’s Investment section will include news about the investment performance of WRS assets, how WRS assets are invested, federal and state laws that impact investments, and other related topics.

WRS News will be published in January, May and September.  The newsletter will be available on the MY UW SYSTEM portal, http://my.wisconsin.edu for employees system-wide, and on the MY UW-Madison portal, http://my.wisc.edu, on the Work Record tab, for UW-Madison employees.  You will not receive direct email notification when each new issue is published.  Please check the portal for the most recent issue.

Please e-mail benefits@uwgb.edu or call 465-2390 if you have any questions.

NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES REGARDING INFORMATIONAL WEBINAR

T. Rowe Price, one of the investment companies participating in the UW System TSA 403(b) program, is sponsoring the webinar “Retirement Investing From Beginning to End” on February 7 and 8, 2011.   You can watch the presentation on your own computer.   Listen to the audio portion on your telephone.   There is no registration required.   This 40-minute program is a comprehensive presentation that explains asset classes, reviews the concepts of risk and return, and helps employees make the most of their investment choices.

For more information, go to http://www.uwsa.edu/hr/benefits/retsav/trpwebinar.htm

Please e-mail benefits@uwgb.edu or call 465-2390 if you have any questions.

NOTICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES PARTICIPATING IN THE WISCONSIN RETIREMENT SYSTEM

Please see the attached press release regarding the 2010 WRS returns:  http://www.swib.state.wi.us/2010_returns.pdf.   There is additional information available on SWIB’s main page as well:  http://www.swib.state.wi.us/.

Please e-mail benefits@uwgb.edu or call 465-2390 if you have any questions.

There have been some notable changes regarding taxes for 2011.  The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 that became law on December 17, 2010 enacted a two percentage point payroll tax cut for employees, reducing their Social Security tax withholding rate from 6.2% to 4.2% of wages paid.

There has been a change to the Federal Tax Withholding Tables for 2011.  IRS Notice 1036 provides a summary of the recent tax law changes and includes the 2011 percentage method income tax withholding tables.  State of Wisconsin income tax rates will remain the same for 2011.  Employees are encouraged to review their federal income tax withholding every year;  any major life changes may prompt you to submit a new W-4 Form to change your tax withholding.

For further information, please see the HR, Payroll and Benefits News section in the My UW System Portal.  If you have questions e-mail benefits@uwgb.edu or call 465-2390.