Retirement
New Mexico Educational Retirement Board
CNM participates in the State Educational Retirement Board (ERB) pension plan providing a pension to CNM employees after they retire.
Retiree Healthcare Benefit
The New Mexico Retiree Health Care Authority provides medical, dental, vision and life insurance coverage for CNM retirees and, in most cases, their spouses, domestic partners, dependents and surviving spouses and dependents.
Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Plans
As a condition of employment with New Mexico's educational system, CNM participates in the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (NMERB) defined benefit plan.
All eligible employees are required to contribute 10.7% of their gross earnings toward the retirement plan, with CNM matching the equivalent of 18.15% of the employees' gross earnings.
To qualify for a future, lifetime benefit payment, employees must have a minimum of five years of contributory service and meet the age requirement, as applicable.
Certain positions will have the option of moving to the NMERB Alternative Retirement Plan (ARP) within the first 90 days of employment. If your position is identified as being potentially eligible, you will be sent information regarding the ARP, with deadlines for submission of paperwork, after completion of New Employee Orientation.
The ARP is a defined contribution retirement plan that allows the participant to choose how the contributions are invested, with a choice of two investment companies (Fidelity and TIAA).
Once enrolled in the ARP, the participant has a one-time opportunity, after 7 years of contributions, to move to the ERB defined benefit program. Once an employee has contributed to the defined benefit plan, the employee is never again eligible for the ARP within the NMERB system.
457 Deferred Compensation Plan
Employees may also set up an additional retirement savings account, through PERA SmartSave, that allows investing pre-tax contributions for retirement. The plan can be started at any time, contributions can be increased or decreased at any time, and limits are set by the IRS on an annual basis. CNM does not contribute to this plan.