Dartmouth 401(k) Plan for Students Covered Under Gold-UE

About the Plan

Two Ways to Enroll: You can choose to actively enroll and select your contribution amount and investment options, or simply do nothing and be automatically enrolled at a 3% pre-tax contribution rate within 35 days after you become eligible to participate. 

Automatic Enrollment: Participants that do not enroll in the Plan or opt-out of participation within 35 days of their eligibility date will be automatically enrolled to contribute 3% of their eligible compensation on a pre-tax basis each paycheck. Once automatic enrollment begins, you may change or discontinue contributions at any time. Automatic enrollment kicks off an automatic savings program; the 3% pre-tax saving rate will increase each year by 1% until the savings rate reaches 10%. 

If automatic enrollment begins and you want to stop participating and receive a refund of your contributions, you will be eligible for an unwind withdrawals within 90 days of your first automatically enrolled contribution. 

Flexible Contributions: You can choose to save more or less than the default 3% pre-tax, choose to save some or all of your contributions as Roth post-tax, or opt out altogether during the enrollment period. 

Investment Funds: The Plan offers a variety of investment options, including a self-directed brokerage window with thousands of mutual funds, giving you flexibility to build your own retirement strategy. 

The Plan Opens on January 2, 2026

If you are a member of the GOLD UE on December 31, 2025, the Dartmouth 401(k) Plan for Students Covered Under GOLD-UE (or, the “Plan”)  is first available for enrollments on  the first business day in January - January 2, 2026. At this point, you are able to log into NetBenefits, set up a user name and password if you don’t already have one, and start to make your choices for the Plan.  Graduate students that become GOLD-UE members on or after January 1, 2026 will be eligible to enroll 30 days after the start of their membership. 

Key Dates for Participants Eligible to Enroll on January 2, 2026

Participation and Enrollment

Participation means that you are eligible to contribute and invest in the Plan. Your participation date is the first date you are eligible to enroll. You will receive an email from Fidelity with enrollment information shortly after your participation date. Your participation will continue until you are no longer a member of the GOLD-UE or terminate employment from Dartmouth. 

Enrollment is the process where GOLD-UE members first log in and set up their account at Fidelity, choose contribution elections, investment funds, and elect beneficiaries. These elections will not change until the participant updates their elections through NetBenefits. 

Automatic Enrollment occurs if you do not enroll in the plans within 35 days of your participation date. Your contribution election will be changed to 3% pre-tax and will be applied to your next paycheck, depending on how often you get paid. If you are automatically enrolled, you can still change your contribution election or opt-out if you make the change 10 days before your pay date. 

Students that were GOLD-UE Members on December 31, 2025

Your participation date is January 2, 2026 and you can start your enrollment process. If you do not act by the date Fidelity has provided to you via email in early January 2026, you will be automatically enrolled to contribute 3% of your eligible compensation on a pre-tax basis. This contribution will be applied to your next paycheck unless you make an update through NetBenefits 10 days before the paycheck date. 

Union members that are non-resident aliens who do not receive any earned income from Dartmouth which constitutes United States sourced income are not eligible to participate in the plan.

GOLD-UE Members on or after January 1, 2026

Your participation date starts 30 days after you become a GOLD-UE member. Your membership date is the date on your assignment letter. At the end of the 30 days, you will receive an email from Fidelity informing you that you are ready to enroll in the plan. 

Starting on your participation date,  you have 35 days to decide if you would like to enroll in the Plan. If you take no action, you will be automatically enrolled to contribute 3% of your eligible compensation on a pre-tax basis. This contribution will be applied to your next paycheck unless you make an update through NetBenefits or call Fidelity 10 days before the paycheck date. 

Union members that are non-resident aliens who do not receive any earned income from Dartmouth which constitutes United States sourced income are not eligible to participate in the plan.

Automatic Enrollment

Automatic Savings

To simplify saving, the Plan will automatically enroll you at a 3% pre-tax contribution rate starting with your first paycheck. This is not required – you have the option of saving more or less than 3% pre-tax or adding Roth post-tax contributions by logging into NetBenefits or calling Fidelity 10 days before your next paycheck date. 

Automatic Investment

If you do not choose one or more investment funds in your Fidelity account at the time contributions begin, your contributions will be automatically invested into a Vanguard Target Retirement Trust Plus Fund at a year closest to the year you turn age 65. Target Retirement Plus Funds are an asset mix of stocks, bonds and other investments that automatically become more conservative as the fund approaches its target retirement date and beyond. Principal invested is not guaranteed. You have the option to change your investment allocation or how your contributions are invested at any time. 

Automatic Increase Program

If you are automatically enrolled in the Plan and make no subsequent changes to your contribution election, your savings rate will increase 1% pre-tax each year until it reaches a maximum of 10%. The Automatic Increase Program ends if you change your contribution election.  

Unwind Withdrawals

If you miss the deadline for the 35-day automatic enrollment window to opt-out of the Plan, and contributions are deducted from your paycheck, you may contact Fidelity to request a withdrawal of the contributions. You must request the unwind withdrawal within 90 days of the contribution being deposited to your account. 

When an unwind withdrawal is requested, Fidelity will change your savings rate to 0%, distribute your account to you and withhold the required federal taxes. In January of the following year, Fidelity will issue you a Form 1099-R to file with your taxes. 

Highlights of the Plan's Features

Eligibility

To participate in the Plan, you must be covered by the Graduate Organized Laborers of Dartmouth, United Electrical Workers of Local 261 (“GOLD-UE”). Eligible graduate students may enroll in the Plan 30 days after the start of your assignment covered under GOLD-UE. Upon reaching eligibility, you can enroll in the Plan at any time. 

If you have questions about your eligibility, contact the Office of Labor Relations at OLR@dartmouth.edu 

Contributions Available

Maximum Amounts: You can contribute from 1%–94% of your eligible compensation as pre-tax or Roth post-tax contributions, or a combination, up to the annual IRS dollar limits. Eligible compensation is defined by the GOLD-UE collective bargaining agreement. For 2026, the maximum contribution allowed by the IRS for participants under the age of 50 is $24,500. If you are age 50 or over, you are permitted a higher maximum limit. 

Pre-tax contributions are deferred before taxes are withheld. Your contributions and any gains are taxable as income when you withdraw them in retirement. This method has less of an impact on your current taxable income but is fully taxable in retirement. The thought being that in retirement you will hopefully be in a lesser tax bracket than during your working years.  

Roth post-tax contributions allow you to make after-tax contributions and take any associated earnings completely tax-free at retirement, as long as the distribution is a qualified one. A qualified distribution, in this case, is one that is taken at least five tax years after your first Roth 401(k) contribution and after you have attained age 59½, become disabled or in the event of your death. 

Rollovers into the Plan are available. You are permitted to roll over eligible pre-tax, or Roth post-tax contributions from another 401(k), 403(b), or governmental 457(b) retirement plan account, or eligible pretax contributions from conduit or non-conduit individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Be sure to consider all your available options and the applicable fees and features of each before moving your retirement assets. 

Vesting

You are always 100% vested in your own contributions to your Plan account, as well as any earnings on them. 

Investment Funds

The Plan offers you a range of options to help you meet your investment goals. 

You can select a mix of investment options that best suit your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Descriptions of the Plan’s investment options, and their past performance are available online at NetBenefits. 

The Plan also offers a self-directed brokerage option, Fidelity BrokerageLink®, which lets you invest in a broad range of mutual fund investment options beyond the investments available in the Plan. 

Loans and Withdrawals while Employed

Loans: Although your Plan account is intended for the future, you may borrow from your account for any reason. The Plan allows a maximum of 3 outstanding loans at any time. Each loan taken must be at least $1,000 and the total amount available for loans is subject to Plan and IRS rules. Loans are repaid to your account plus interest through ACH payments from your chosen bank account. 

Log on to NetBenefits for more details or to request a loan. 

Withdrawals from the Plan are generally permitted when you attain age 59½, become permanently disabled, or have severe financial hardship as defined by the Plan. Refer to the Summary Plan Description or call Fidelity for more details. 

After You Leave Dartmouth

Once you are no longer employed by Dartmouth, you are eligible to take a distribution from the Plan. If your account balance is above $5,000, you can keep your balance in the Plan until you retire. 

If your account balance is at or below $5,000, you are required to take a distribution from the Plan. You must contact Fidelity within 90 days of your last day of work and provide them instructions about distributing your balance.

If you do not provide instruction to Fidelity within 90 days, your account will be distributed based on the following rules: 

• Balances under $1,000 will be cashed out and a check will be mailed to your home address on file. Standard federal withholding taxes and penalties will be deducted from your balance. 
• Balances $1,000 and higher but below $5,000 will automatically distributed from the Plan and rolled over to an IRA held in your name at Fidelity. You will be sent information about the IRA to your addresses on file. 

Guidance About Saving and Investing

Meeting with a Financial Consultant

Fidelity Workplace Financial Consultants are licensed professionals and can help with enrollment, asset allocation, retirement planning, and other questions you have about the Plan. You can meet with them over the phone, via Zoom or on campus at 7 Lebanon Street, Suite 203 in Hanover. 

Schedule an appointment or to speak with a financial consultant, call 800-642-7131 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET to speak with a consultant. 

Monthly Webinars

Fidelity offers monthly webinars. These are announced regularly through Vox daily.

Employee Assistance Program and GuidanceResources® Online

Your Dartmouth College Employee Assistance Program (EAP), in partnership with ComPsych/GuidanceResources offers GOLD-UE members confidential support, resources and information for personal and work-life issues. These services are confidential and are provided at no charge to you. 

To learn more, visit the  EAP website GuidanceResources website (web ID: Dartmouth) or call 866-606-6355 

Important Information

Online Beneficiary Designation

It is important to prepare now for unexpected events for your future. Designating your beneficiaries today can help them in the future. It is important to designate a beneficiary for your Plan account. Log on to NetBenefits at NetBenefits and select Profile & Settings to designate your beneficiary online. 

Plan Documents (check back as these become available)

• Plan Highlights Enrollment Guide
• Summary Plan Description
• EACA Notice
• QDIA Notice
• Annual Fee Disclosure
• BrokerageLink® Guide
• BrokerageLink Fee Disclosure 

Fidelity Contact Information

Contact Fidelity about your account, contribution and investment elections and information about the Plan.

Online at NetBenefits

App Download

Download the NetBenefits® app to access your account on your mobile device. The NetBenefits app is available in Spanish—just update your language preferences in the app. 

Service Center

English:  800-343-0860 Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to Midnight Eastern time (excluding most holidays) 

Spanish:  Para español, llame al 800-587-5282 

Language Line:   TBD 

Financial Consultants

Schedule time with a financial consultant or to speak with a financial consultant, call 800-642-7131 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET. 

Questions about Eligibilty and Membership

If you have questions about your eligibility for the Plan, contact the Office of Labor Relations at OLR@dartmouth.edu. 

Questions about Payroll Contributions

For questions about payroll contributions or for general information about Plan, contact the Benefits Department at 401k@dartmouth.edu. 

Bookmark this page for the Summary Plan Description, fee disclosures, and other information about the Plan.