MRIC (Michigan Retirement Investment Consortium) is a group of public school districts and community colleges across Michigan whose purpose is to provide employees with the opportunity to save for retirement and to ensure financial independence through a supplemental savings plan. Our goal at MRIC is to create the optimal retirement plan experience for all of our participants.

History

In 2008 the IRS issued final regulations under Section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. The regulations became effective January 1, 2009. These made significant changes to the tax code and imposed new requirements on public education employers offering Section 403(b) tax-sheltered annuity programs to their employees. That same year, the consortium that would one day become MRIC was formed to address the challenges of these new regulations. Since then, the consortium has focused on meeting two clear yet complex goals:

  1. Compliance with the regulatory requirements of the IRS.
    Non-compliance means employees lose tax-sheltered status and employers incur IRS penalties.
  2. A focus on employees
    Through a consortium, leverage combined purchasing power to provide employees lower fees and improved product offerings.

Facts

  • MRIC, which started out as an idea between a few districts has become one of the largest 403(b) educational consortiums in the nation.
  • The consortium is comprised of ±240 local school districts, ±32 intermediate school districts, and several community colleges for a total of more than 275 member districts.
  • The consortium’s schools employ more than 80,000 people, of whom more than 19,700 actively participate in a 403(b) or 457 plan.
  • Consortium participants’ retirement assets total approximately $2 billion.