DePaul University Newsline > Sections > Faculty and Staff: HR News > Employees: Update your beneficiary information

Employees: Update your beneficiary information

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DePaul University highly recommends that you periodically review your beneficiary designations for university-provided life insurance and 403(b) benefits.

Beneficiary recipients can be individuals, an organization, a trust or your estate. The primary beneficiary will receive your assets in the event of your death. Contingent beneficiaries are also important because if the primary beneficiary predeceases you, your assets will be distributed among this second group. For example, you could name your spouse as a primary beneficiary and your children as contingent beneficiaries.

Group life insurance

DePaul's administrator for insurance coverage changed from Lincoln Financial to The Hartford on Jan. 1. As part of this change, employees should have received an email from The Hartford in early March with instructions for updating beneficiary information for your life insurance provided by DePaul.

All eligible faculty and staff are enrolled in the DePaul University basic life and long-term disability insurance plans, with the university paying the full cost of these plans.

Please note that if you have purchased supplemental life insurance and/or dependent life insurance, you will have to select beneficiaries for each policy.

403(b) retirement plan

As with the life insurance beneficiary designation, your designated beneficiary stands to inherit your 403(b) retirement plan accumulations.

There are separate designations for Fidelity balances and TIAA balances. If you have 403(b) account balances at both fund sponsors, you will need to designate your beneficiaries by contacting each separately:

  • Fidelity's Online Beneficiaries Service is available by logging into your account at NetBenefits; click the "Accounts and Benefits" tab at the top, followed by "Update your Beneficiaries." You also can call Fidelity at 800-343-0860, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. - 11 p.m.
  • TIAA's Online Beneficiaries Service is available by logging into your account at www.tiaa.org; click "Actions," then "Beneficiaries." You also can call TIAA at 800-842-2252, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. - 9 p.m., and Saturday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

If you have questions, you can reach out to the Benefits Team online or call 312-362-8232.