In North Jersey, 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 hospital, a for-profit owner, or the State of New Jersey. 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) or 401(k), 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 hospital | Plans that may be church plans, which Title I of ERISA does not cover unless the plan elects coverage | The church plan rule, below |
| A for-profit hospital owner | Federal law limits 403(b) plans to 501(c)(3) organizations and public schools, and 457(b) plans to governments and tax-exempt organizations, so the savings plan is a different kind, such as a 401(k) | Corporate 401(k) and legacy pensions |
| A State of New Jersey employer, such as University Hospital | PERS, or at University Hospital the Alternate Benefit Program if hired before July 1, 2013, and the Defined Contribution Retirement Program | County employees, for how PERS works |
| 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.
One New Jersey addition: New Jersey taxes 403(b) and 457 contributions in the year you make them, so part of each later withdrawal has already been taxed. It does not tax 401(k) contributions when you make them. Which plan your hospital uses therefore changes your New Jersey tax, and the Hackensack Meridian page shows how.
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Your system
Find your system
Systems with their own page
Atlantic Health System
Morristown, Overlook in Summit, Chilton in Pompton Plains, Newton and Hackettstown. Written as a method, because the plan document has not been obtained.
Hackensack Meridian Health
New Jersey’s largest health network by its own description, including Hackensack University Medical Center. Its hospital staff save in a 401(k), and its pension is frozen.
RWJBarnabas Health
Headquartered in West Orange, with Cooperman Barnabas, Clara Maass, Newark Beth Israel, Jersey City Medical Center, Trinitas and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Its one pension is closed and frozen.
Other North Jersey hospitals
- Pascack Valley Medical Center, Westwood, and Mountainside Medical Center, Montclair. Run by Ardent Health, a for-profit company, in joint ventures with Hackensack Meridian. Ardent’s 401(k) is described on the Hackensack Meridian page.
- Valley Health System, whose Valley Hospital in Paramus describes itself as not-for-profit, and Englewood Health, Englewood. The general rules on this page apply; confirm your own plans with your benefits office.
- Holy Name Medical Center, Teaneck, sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, and St. Joseph’s Health, Paterson and Wayne, which describes itself as a healing ministry of the Catholic Church. Read the church plan rule above, then your summary plan description.
- Prime Healthcare, which describes itself as a for-profit health system: Saint Clare’s in Denville and Dover, St. Mary’s General Hospital in Passaic, and Saint Michael’s Medical Center in Newark. Prime also has a not-for-profit foundation that owns some of its hospitals, so confirm which entity employs you before reading the corporate 401(k) page.
- University Hospital, Newark. A State of New Jersey instrumentality; the State requires eligible staff to join a pension plan. The county employees page explains PERS.
- Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, Paramus. Bergen County describes it as publicly owned, and its operator, Care Plus Bergen, Inc., describes itself as not-for-profit. We have not confirmed which retirement plans cover its staff, so confirm yours with its benefits office.
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 joint venture 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. 403(b)(1)(A), 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); New Jersey Division of Taxation, NJ Income Tax Wages, and GIT-1 and 2 (January 2026); Atlantic Health System, Who we are; Hackensack Meridian Health, About us; RWJBarnabas Health, Our locations; Ardent Health Services, prospectus (July 2024); Holy Name Medical Center, History; St. Joseph’s Health, Mission, vision and values; The Valley Hospital; Englewood Health, Englewood Hospital; Prime Healthcare, home page and The Prime Story; Bergen County, Hospitals and health centers, and Bergen County Improvement Authority; Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, Trustees; University Hospital, Retirement plans; P.L.2012, c.45. 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, at no charge and with no obligation.
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