Beneficiaries

Taking time to update beneficiary information is very important. A beneficiary is the person or entity named to receive life insurance, retirement and health savings account benefits in the event of an individual's passing.

Types of Beneficiaries:

You have the option to designate multiple beneficiaries as well as both primary and secondary (contingent) recipients. When choosing your beneficiary, consider the important individuals and organizations in your life. Which family members or other loved ones will need support after you're gone? What causes do you care about and want to make part of your legacy? Once identified, be sure to tell someone if you are making them a beneficiary and explore any restrictions or recommendations you may encounter as a result of your preferred designation.

• Primary Beneficiary

The person(s) or organization(s) who would receive your assets upon your death.

• Secondary Beneficiary 

You can name one or more people who can receive your assets if your primary beneficiary dies or is incapacitated.

• Child or Special Needs Beneficiary  

Life insurance, retirement accounts and HSAs may have restrictions that do not allow for minors to be named as beneficiaries. If you would like to name a child or a dependent with special needs as a beneficiary, it is recommended that you consult a legal advisor first.

• Charity Beneficiary 

 If you have a nonprofit that you feel passionate about, you can name it as your beneficiary to receive all or a percentage of your assets.

Please remember, a beneficiary designation can’t be changed or corrected after you are gone. The only way to ensure your assets are allocated according to your wishes is to review and keep your beneficiaries up to date. The good news is that you can change your beneficiary at any time during the year!

How to Designate Your Beneficiaries:

The following provides more information on how to designate you beneficiary for your GW life, retirement and health savings account benefits: 

Life Insurance

You have the ability to designate beneficiaries for your GW group life insurance plans. 

Active Employees

Active employees can update beneficiary information in the benefits enrollment system.

Please note that beneficiary information held by GW applies to the life and AD&D coverage through Lincoln Financial and the active employee death benefit only. In order to update beneficiary information for other individual life coverage policies (such as Universal Life coverage through Transamerica), for retirement plans or health savings accounts, please update that beneficiary information directly with the respective provider(s).

Retirees, LTD Recipients and COBRA

Beneficiaries for the GW group life insurance plans are maintained by the GW Benefits office. Retirees and LTD Recipients can update beneficiary information by completing a new Beneficiary Designation Form (PDF) and returning the completed form to GW Benefits. 

Retirees, LTD Recipients and COBRA participants who have converted or ported any life insurance coverage as well as LTD recipients on an approved life waiver of premium claim should process beneficiary changes directly with the life insurance provider.

Important: Beneficiary changes made in the benefits enrollment system (bswift) will not be recognized for purposes of life insurance claims for Retirees, LTD Recipients or COBRA.

Retirement Savings

If you are a participant in one or more of the GW Retirement Plans you will have the ability to designate your beneficiaries for each of your plans where you have existing assets. If you invest with Fidelity, TIAA or both vendors use the following instructions to add our edit your beneficiary designations. 

Fidelity

Add/Edit a Beneficiary for Fidelity Retirement Savings Account Participants: 

• Go to netbenefits.com/GW and log into your account.
• Once logged in, under the Accounts & Benefits tab, click Update your beneficiaries.
• From there, you can designate beneficiaries and select how much each should receive.

If you have questions or need assistance, call Fidelity at 800-343-0860.

TIAA 

Add/Edit a Beneficiary for TIAA Retirement Savings Account Participants:

• Go to TIAA.org and log into your account.
• Once logged in, under the Action tab, choose Add/Edit beneficiaries.
• From there, you can designate beneficiaries and select how much each should receive.

If you have questions or need assistance, call TIAA at 800-842-2252.

Health Savings Account (HSA)

If you are currently covered under a high deductible health plan (HDHP) like GW’s Health Savings Plan (HSP), you may be contributing to a Health Savings Account (HSA). Contributions to your HSA roll over from year to year, and accumulate if not used. These savings dollars can be invested or used to pay for any qualified health expenses incurred after the account is opened.  

Designating a beneficiary is important to ensure that the funds in your HSA will easily transfer to your loved ones when you're gone. Use the following information to add, review or change your current HSA beneficiaries for your current Bank of America account. 

• On the member website, go to Accounts > Profile Summary > Add Beneficiary.
• From there, you can designate beneficiaries and select how much each should receive.

If you have questions or need assistance, call Bank of America at 800-838-1868.

When Should You Review Your Beneficiaries:

Since family circumstances can often change, selecting and updating beneficiaries is not a one-and-done task. We encourage you to review and update your beneficiaries annually as well as with any major life events including:

Resources:

• Life Keys (PDF)
• Life Keys Will Preparation (PDF)
• Life Insurance Planning Worksheet (PDF)
• Beneficiary Services through Empathy (PDF)

If you have additional questions about your beneficiary designations or any other benefit needs, please contact Benefits Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. at [email protected] or (571) 553 - 8382.