Frequently Asked Questions
The Louisiana ORP is a defined contribution plan under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 401(a). It is offered to certain employees of Louisiana’s public institutions of higher education as an alternative to the Teacher’s Retirement System of Louisiana (TRSL). Both employee and employer contribute an amount to a variable annuity based on a percentage of the employee’s salary – those contributions are allocated among investment options chosen by the employee. The account value is based on the contributions and any earnings on those contributions.
A major benefit of the ORP is its flexibility. ORP benefits are portable – you may take them with you if you change employers and still enjoy tax favorable benefits until you actually retire. ORP also offers you the flexibility of controlling the investment of your own retirement account, thereby tailoring the program to your specific needs.
When you enroll in ORP, you and your employer each contribute a certain percentage of your earnable compensation to the program. Your salary is then “reduced” by the amount of your contribution, which along with the employer’s contribution, is sent to Voya© and invested according to your instructions.
You pay no current federal income tax on your contributions or any earnings on those contributions. You will pay tax when you eventually withdraw money from the plan; but it is possible that you may be in a lower tax bracket when you receive the benefits.
Loans are not available.
Under the provisions of Louisiana law, you may receive your account value as a lifetime payout. In addition, ORP account balances may be rolled over to another eligible retirement plan at any time after termination of employment. A one time, lump-sum payment of up to 36 months of your annuity is available from the ORP Account at the time of retirement in addition to a lifetime annuity. If the up-front, lump-sum is chosen, lifetime benefits are reduced accordingly.
Cash withdrawals from your ORP account are only permitted by the Plan for Required Minimum Distributions or for a Death Claim.
Upon separation from state service, you may select one of the payment options allowed by TRSL. Contact your local representative, the local field office or Voya's customer service department for the appropriate paperwork and instructions. Once withdrawal paperwork is completed the local field office will request your date of termination from TRSL. This may take up to 90 days to receive as all contributions from your employer must be submitted and applied before TRSL will validate. Upon receipt of forms in good order and the date of termination receipt from TRSL, Voya’s local field office will submit for processing. If this order is received prior to close of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), distributions are generally processed within 5 business days.
Cash withdrawals from your ORP account are only permitted by the Plan for Required Minimum Distributions or for a Death Claim.
Your employer remits contributions to TRSL. TRSL then transfers the appropriate employee and employer contributions to Voya for investment in your choice of options.
Yes, for security reasons a password is required. Please note -- there are different security processes for phone and internet access:
Toll-free Access: You will need both your Social Security Number and a personal identification number (PIN) to access your account through our toll-free telephone line. A default PIN will be assigned to you when you enroll in the plan (you will receive the default PIN along with your enrollment confirmation). We encourage you to change this password to one of your own preference at your earliest convenience. PINs can be changed by using our automated toll-free telephone line; Customer Service cannot change your PIN for you.
Online Access: First-time users will be asked to fill out a brief registration form before accessing their account online. This form will prompt you to create a personalized Username and Password that you will use to access your account(s). Upon entering Voya Access, you will need your Social Security number and PIN(s) to complete the registration process. On all subsequent visits, you will only be required to enter your Username and Password to access your account.
No. There are no transaction fees, regardless of whether you make changes through the internet or the automated voice response unit, or by speaking with Customer Service. Transactions may be subject to Voya’s Excessive Trading Policy.
Transactions received in good order by the close of business on any day the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is open (generally until 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday), will be processed at the close of that same business day and reflected in your account on the next business day. Transaction requests received in good order after the close of business on a NYSE business day, will be processed as of the close of business on the next business day. All transactions are processed within these timeframes regardless of whether you use the internet, automated voice response system or talk with Customer Service.
Any time you make a change to the manner in which your ongoing contributions are invested, or the way your current account is invested, a written confirmation will be mailed to your home within two (2) days of the date the transaction is made. You will receive this confirmation if you make financial transactions over the internet, automated voice response system or by talking with Customer Service.
No. There are no restrictions on the amount you can transfer among the current investment options. The amount transferred need only be a whole percentage (i.e. 45%, rather than 45.7%).
You can access performance information:
- through this website,
- with your quarterly participant statements,
- by calling our toll-free line at (800) 584-6001, and/or
- contacting your local representative
Fund Performance will be updated on a monthly basis. Monthly performance reports will be available on this website under Investment Performance. Quarterly performance will also be available on this site and will be included with your quarterly statements. You will be able to track daily fund prices when accessing your account through this website.
You will receive quarterly statements shortly after the close of each calendar quarter.
Voya® takes ensuring the privacy of its customers very seriously. For more information, see Voya’s Privacy Notice.