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11 <br />/ At age 55 if separated from service or age 59 1/2 if still employed. <br />5. Benefits for the Employee <br />^ Retirement income and security <br />^ Tax savings <br />^ Full ownership, 100% vested immediately <br />^ Hardship withdrawal provisions <br />^ Loan provision <br />6. Employee Participation <br />^ One of the key purposes of an employer contribution is to encourage employee <br />participation in the supplemental retirement plans. This supports employees in <br />actively planning for retirement. The experience of the 401(k) plan has been that an <br />employer contribution has the effect of significantly increasing employee <br />participation. <br />^ As of Apri130, 1999, 159 Orange County general government employees participate <br />in the 401(k) plan by making an employee contribution. By salary grade, the <br />following numbers of employees make a voluntary contribution: <br />Salary Grade Category Number Employees <br />Grades 57-63 46 <br />Grades 64-70 83 <br />Grades 71 and over 30 <br />For the 159 general government employees making a voluntary contribution, the <br />average salary grade is grade 65. The average salary is $28,000. (For County <br />employees as a whole, the average salary grade is 65 and the average salary is about <br />$32,000.) <br />^ As of Apri130, 1999, 137 employees participate in the 457 Plan (another type of <br />supplemental retirement plan with some different provisions as outlined in <br />Attachment 1). By salary grade the following numbers of employees make a <br />voluntary contribution. <br />Salary Grade Category Number Employees <br />Grades 57-63 35 <br />Grades 64-70 73 <br />Grades 71 and over 29 <br />For these 137 employees, the average salary grade is 66 and the average salary is <br />about $39,000. <br />