Frequently Asked Questions
Q. | What is the Normal Retirement Date under the Plan? (Normal Pension) |
A. | The Normal Retirement Date for active participants is the first of the month coinciding with or following your 62nd birthday(or your date of Plan participation, if later). [Section II(M)] |
Q. | Can I work past my Normal Retirement Date and retire at a later date? (Late Pension) |
A. | Yes. You keep earning full Pension Credits until retirement payments start. Your benefits will become payable on your Late Retirement Date. [Section V(C)] |
Q. | Can I start receiving benefits before my Normal Retirement Date? (Early Pension) |
A. | You are entitled to Early Retirement Benefits if you are at least age 55 and have completed 10 years of Credited Service. You may retire early by completing the necessary paperwork and submitting the required documentation. Your benefits may be reduced since they start before your Normal Retirement Date. The reduction, if any, depends on your age and the amount of Credited Service you have at retirement. [Section V(D)] |
Q. | How are Early Retirement Benefits Calculated? |
A. |
Your Early Retirement Benefit is reduced by 6% for each year your benefit begins before your Normal Retirement Date. For example, an eligible participant who retires under Early Retirement at age 60 is entitled to a benefit that is 88% (100% - 6% x [62 – 60]) of the monthly accrued benefit earned, before any adjustment for any optional form of payment elected. |
Q. | Am I required to stop working if I start my Early Pension? |
A. |
If you want to start an Early Retirement Benefit, you need to stop working in order to receive payments. Benefits earned under this plan cannot start being paid until the earlier of the date you stop working or your Normal Retirement Date (age 62). In order to start your early benefit, you must declare that you are retiring with no present intention to return to Covered Employment before age 62. If you continue working in Covered Employment, your early benefit will be deferred, and you will receive a payment of interest for the period that it is delayed. |
Q. | If I quit working in Covered Employment prior to retirement, can I get Retirement Benefits later? (Vested Deferred Pension) |
A. |
If you have five or more years of Credited Service or Vesting Service at the time you stop working, you will be entitled to a Vested Retirement Benefit at your Normal Retirement Date. You may be entitled to a reduced Vested Retirement Benefit starting any time after reaching age 55 if you have 10 years or more of Credited Service. The reduction will be the same as for retirement with an Early Retirement Benefit. |
Q. | Suppose I work past age 62 after my Retirement Benefit starts? (Post-Normal Benefit) |
A. |
If you retire and then return to work in Covered Employment past age 62, you will earn at least 10% of the amount in the benefit table for that post-age 62 employment. This is called a Post-Normal Retirement Benefit and is added to the benefit already being paid to you at age 62. After an annual audit, Retirement Services will notify you of any additional benefits payable. Additional benefits will be payable retroactively to May 1 of the following Plan year in which you earned the additional credit. [Section V(K)] |
Q. | Are benefits payable if I become disabled? (Disability Pension) |
A. | You become entitled to Disability Retirement Benefits if you become disabled before experiencing an Interruption of Future Service Credit, provided you meet disability requirements prior to your Normal Retirement Date, and if you are a 2020 non-Grandfathered participant (you began earning pension credit during the 2020 Plan Year or later) and have at least (10) years of Credited Service. Contact Retirement Services promptly for details about applying for these benefits. [Section V(E)] |
Q. | If I die before retirement, will any benefits be payable to my Beneficiary? (Pre-Retirement Death Benefit) | ||||||||||||||
A. |
Yes, if you die before you have an Interruption of Future Service Credit or if you have a vested Pension. If you are not yet age 62, your Designated Beneficiary will receive a single-sum Death Benefit equal to your years of Future Service credit times $2,000. Sample amounts of Death Benefit are shown in the following table:
If you die after reaching age 62 but before having an Interruption of Future Service Credit, your Designated Beneficiary will receive 60 payments of the monthly Pension you earned before you died. The single-sum Death Benefit is coordinated with any surviving spouse monthly benefit that is payable from the Plan, so that your eligible surviving spouse will receive the greater of the surviving spouse benefit or the single sum benefit. If you die while in qualified military service, you will be treated for plan death benefit eligibility purposes as if you returned to Covered Employment and remained in service until death. [Section V(H)] |
Q. | Who receives my Pre-Retirement Death Benefit? |
A. |
If you are married for at least one year at the time of your death, your single-sum Death Benefit is payable to your spouse. If you are married and die less than one year after the date of your marriage, your single-sum Death Benefit is payable to your spouse unless you designated a different beneficiary after your marriage. If you are not married, then the beneficiary designation you made under this Plan (or, if there is no such designation, the most recent beneficiary designation in effect under the Carpenters' Health and Welfare Trust Fund) will determine who gets your death benefit from the Pension Plan. If no beneficiary has been named at all, then the beneficiary shall be your surviving spouse, or if none, your living descendants (on a “per stirpes” basis), or if there are none, your estate. A special rule applies if your most recently Designated Beneficiary at the time of your death is a former spouse, where the divorce or annulment occurred after the beneficiary designation was made. Your former spouse will not be treated as your Designated Beneficiary; your beneficiary will be determined as if your former spouse died before you did. [Section II(F)(1), Section V(H)] |
Q. | Will any monthly benefits be paid if I die before retirement? (Surviving Spouse Pre-Retirement Benefit) |
A. |
If you are married to the same spouse at the time of your death and for the entire year before your death, a Surviving Spouse Benefit is available to your spouse if you are vested. The regular form of the Surviving Spouse Benefit is a monthly income payable for the rest of your surviving spouse's life and is based on the monthly benefit you earned before you died (generally payable from the date you would have been eligible to retire). This monthly income will be 50% of the amount you would have received under the Joint & Survivor form of payment described in the next section. This Surviving Spouse Benefit is payable even if you die after an Interruption of Future Service Credit, provided you are vested and have not begun taking your pension. The value of the monthly income your surviving spouse receives will not be less than the single-sum Death Benefit that would otherwise be payable (if any). Your spouse can elect to receive the single sum payment instead of the monthly income that is payable. In that case, a smaller monthly income may also be payable, depending on the amount of Pension Credit you earned before your death. If a monthly Surviving Spouse Benefit is payable, your spouse can elect to receive an immediate monthly benefit, provided the immediate income is elected within 90 days of your death. Immediate monthly income may be paid over the life of your spouse or, if elected, in either 60 or 120 guaranteed monthly payments. The amount of the immediate monthly benefit may be adjusted for timing of when benefits begin or form of payment. Your surviving spouse should contact Retirement Services as soon as possible following your death. [Section V(H)] |