On Long Island, a nurse, a hospitalist and a hospital executive can do similar work and still retire under different sets of rules. What decides it is who your employer is: a nonprofit system, a church-sponsored system, the State of New York, or a public benefit corporation. Start there, then go to the page for your system.
On this page
Start here
Your employer decides the rules
| If your employer is | What to check for | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| A nonprofit health system | A 403(b), any pension, and whether you have a 457(b), which belongs to the employer until it is paid to you | Your system’s page |
| A church-sponsored system | Plans that may be church plans, which Title I of ERISA does not cover unless the plan elects coverage | Catholic Health |
| The State of New York (SUNY) | A state retirement system or the SUNY Optional Retirement Program, and a state 457(b) held in trust for you | Stony Brook |
| A public benefit corporation | The New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System | County employees |
| The federal government | FERS and the Thrift Savings Plan | Federal service |
Two rules that matter more than most
The first is the 457(b). At a tax-exempt employer, the IRS says a 457(b) balance is “not held in trust” and remains “the property of the employer,” available to its creditors. It also cannot be rolled into an IRA when you leave. At a state or local government employer, the same kind of plan is held in trust and can be rolled over. Two plans with the same name behave in opposite ways.
The second is the church plan. A plan maintained by an organization associated with a church can qualify as a church plan even if a church did not set it up, as the Supreme Court held in 2017. A church plan is exempt from Title I of ERISA, and a church plan pension is not insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, unless the plan has elected to be covered. Your plan’s summary plan description says which applies.
Rather go through this with your own numbers? We can cover it in a short conversation, at no charge and with no obligation. Book your Retirement Review
Your system
Find your system
Systems with their own page
Northwell Health
Our most detailed page, written from Northwell’s own plan documents: the 403(b), the pension, the 457(b) and the retiree medical gates.
NYU Langone Health
NYU Langone Hospital, Long Island, in Mineola, and NYU Langone Hospital, Suffolk, in Patchogue, formerly Long Island Community Hospital. The two are not treated alike.
Catholic Health
Sponsored by the Diocese of Rockville Centre: St. Francis, St. Joseph, Mercy, Good Samaritan, St. Catherine of Siena, and the St. Charles campus of Good Samaritan. A defined benefit pension and a 403(b).
Stony Brook Medicine
Stony Brook Medicine staff on the State payroll are covered by the State of New York’s health, welfare and retirement programs. Staff at the Greenport and Southampton hospitals are employed through separate organizations.
Other Long Island hospitals
- Mount Sinai South Nassau, Oceanside. A not-for-profit hospital in the Mount Sinai Health System. The general rules on this page apply; confirm your own plans with its benefits office.
- Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow. Run by the Nassau Health Care Corporation, a public benefit corporation that participates in the state Employees’ Retirement System. The county employees page explains how that system works.
- Northport VA Medical Center. Federal employment; see federal service.
Before you decide
If you are a physician
An employed physician is covered by the employer’s plans and may be offered a deferred compensation plan; at a tax-exempt employer, the IRS limits a 457(b) to a select group of management or highly compensated employees. A physician in a practice they own is a business owner, and the business owners page applies. A physician moving from one to the other should read both.
Five things to find out before you decide anything
- Who your legal employer is. It may be the system, one hospital, a medical group, a professional employer organization or the state.
- Which plans you are in, and where the plan documents are.
- Whether each plan is covered by ERISA, is a church plan, or is a government plan.
- Which kind of 457(b) you have, if you have one.
- What you must do to keep retiree health coverage, and by when.
Sources for this page: Internal Revenue Service, Non-Governmental 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plans; 26 U.S.C. 457(b)(6), (e)(1) and (e)(16); Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, decided June 5, 2017; 29 U.S.C. 1003(b)(2) and 1321(b)(3); SUNY, Retirement; Stony Brook Medicine Human Resources, About benefits; Catholic Health, 2024 pension and 403(b) summary, and About Catholic Health; NYU Langone, NYU Langone Hospital, Long Island and NYU Langone Hospital, Suffolk location pages; Mount Sinai South Nassau, About; Stony Brook Southampton Hospital and Eastern Long Island Hospital employment pages; New York Public Authorities Law 3402; Nassau University Medical Center, Our history; Office of the State Comptroller, NYSLRS participating employers list; Department of Veterans Affairs, Northport VA Medical Center. This page is general information about how the rules work and is not advice about your situation.
Several of these choices come with deadlines.
Which rules apply to you depends on your employer and your plan documents, and several of the choices at retirement have deadlines. We can go through yours in a short conversation.
Book your Retirement ReviewNot ready to book? Answer a few questions about your situation, or send a message.
Booking is handled through Rosefinch Investment Advisors. LI Retirement is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any government agency, retirement system, plan sponsor, or employer named on this site.