The 457 plan is a type of nonqualified, tax advantaged deferred-compensation retirement plan that is available for governmental and certain nongovernmental employers in the United States. The employer provides the plan and the employee defers compensation into it on a pretax or after-tax (Roth) basis. For the most part, the plan operates similarly to a 401(k) or 403(b) plan with which most people in the US are familiar. The key difference is that unlike with a 401(k) plan, it has no 10% penalty for withdrawal before the age of 55 (59 years, 6 months for IRA accounts) (although the withdrawal is subject to ordinary income taxation). These 457 plans (both governmental and nongovernmental) can also allow independent contractors to participate in the plan, where 401(k) and 403(b) plans cannot. Changes with EGTRRA 2001 The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) made a number of changes in how governmental 457 plans are treated, the most notable of which is that the coordination of benefits limitation was removed. This allows a person whose employer has a 401(k) or 403(b) and a 457 to defer the maximum contribution amounts to both plans instead of coordinating the total and only being able to meet a single limit amount. Thus, participants can contribute the maximum $19,500 for 2021 into their 401(k) and also the maximum $19,500 into their 457 plan. If they are at least 50 at the end of the current tax year, they can contribute the additional catch-up amount into each plan, also, meaning an additional $6,500 into the 401(k) and another $6,500 into his governmental 457 (catch-up contributions are not provided for nongovernmental 457 plans). The total would then be $52,000 deferred instead of the $26,000 [19,500 + 6,500] that would have been allowed if the coordination of benefits provision had not been repealed in regard to the governmental 457 plan. As a result, many governmental employers have now set up 457 and 401(k) plans for their employees, and nonprofit employers have set up 403(b) and 457 plans, each allowing their employees to invest in both. Some state universities and school districts have access to all three tax-deferred plans. However, the total combined annual contribution to 401(k) and 403(b) plans is subject to the $19,500 limit and $6,500 catch-up limit. Other notable changes made in the EGTRRA legislation were increasing the maximum deferral amount from the approximately $8,500