Frequently Asked Questions
Q. | What is the Normal Retirement Date under the Shops Plan? (Normal Pension) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A. |
The Normal Retirement Date for active participants is the first of the month coinciding with or following your 62nd birthday. If, at age 62, you have not obtained credit for 400 hours of service, then your Normal Retirement Date will be the first of the month following the date you obtained credit for your 400 hours of service. [Section 4.2] |
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Q. | Can I work past my Normal Retirement Date and retire at a later date? (Late Pension) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A. | Yes. You keep earning Pension Credits until retirement payments start. Your benefits will become payable on your Late Retirement Date. [Section 4.3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Vesting Service. Pro Rata Service counts toward this service requirement. 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 4.4] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Q. | What are the types of Early Retirement Benefits? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A. |
There are three types of Early Retirement Benefits. 1. Standard 2. Rule of 90 3. 30-Year Rule In order to be eligible for the special 30-Year Rule, your latest Break in Service prior to beginning Early Retirement Benefits must occur after you reach age 55. Service under the Carpenters’ Plan may count toward eligibility vesting for the Rule of 90 and 30-Year Rule under the Shops Plan if certain requirements are met. These special rules are described in Sections 3.2A and 4.4 of the Plan Document for the Shops Plan. The following table shows the percentage of your full benefit payable when you retire early (assuming your Normal Retirement Date – NRD – age is 62). [Section 4.4]
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Q. | Am I required to stop working if I start my Early Pension? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A. |
If you began earning pension credit prior to July 1, 2013, you may continue working in Covered Employment and receive your full payment for all Early Retirement Benefits after you begin drawing your Early Pension Benefit. If you began earning pension credit on or after July 1, 2013, you need to stop working to receive Early Retirement Benefits. If you choose to take an Early Pension, you must declare at retirement that you are retiring with no present intention to return to Covered Employment after commencement of your early benefit. If you later decide to continue working in Covered Employment prior to age 62, your benefits would subsequently be suspended until you stop working again. [Section V(D) and Article 4, Section 4.4 of Appendix A] |
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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 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 Vesting Service (or ten or more years of Minimum Vesting Service). The reduction will be the same as for retirement with an Early Retirement Benefit. However, if your Break in Service takes place before you reach age 55, the special reduction rules for participants who satisfy the Rule of 90, or the 30-Year Rule will not apply. [Section 4.6] |
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Q. | Suppose I need to return to work after I start to receive my Early Retirement Benefit? (Supplemental Pension) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A. |
If you begin receiving Early Retirement Benefits from the Plan and subsequently return to work in Covered Employment, you will be entitled to additional benefits for hours worked from Early Retirement to age 62. This supplemental, or second, pension benefit is payable the first of the month coinciding with or following your 62nd birthday. Additional benefits for Credited Service earned between the time you began Early Retirement and age 62 will be calculated according to the normal benefit formula. [Section 4.7] |
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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, the Pension Office 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 additional benefits. [Section 4.11)] |
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Q. | Are benefits payable if I become disabled? (Disability Pension) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A. | You become entitled to Disability Retirement Benefits if you become disabled after completing five years of Credited Service, before experiencing a Break in Service, and before your Normal Retirement Date. You are considered disabled if you have been awarded Social Security disability benefits. Contact the Pension Office promptly for details about applying for these benefits. [Section 4.5] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Q. | If I die before retirement, will any benefits be payable to my Beneficiary? (Pre-Retirement Death Benefit) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A. |
Yes, if you die before age 62 and before you have a Break in Service or if you have a vested Pension when you die following a Break in Service occurring on or after May 1, 1995. Your Designated Beneficiary will receive a single-sum Death Benefit equal to employer contributions made to the Plan on your behalf. If you die after reaching age 62 but before having a Break in Service, 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 Shops Plan, so that your 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 Shops Plan death benefit eligibility purposes as if you returned to Covered Employment and remained in service until death. [Section 1.3.A, Section 4.8] |
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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're 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 for the one-year period before your death, 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 Shops and Mills 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 4.8] |
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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 100% of the amount you would have received under the Joint & Survivor form of payment (50% if your Break in Service or your death occurs before January 1, 2000). This Surviving Spouse Benefit is payable even if you die after a Break in Service, provided you are vested and have not begun taking your pension. However, different rules apply if your Break in Service occurred before May 1, 1985. 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 employer contributions made on your behalf 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 the Pension Office as soon as possible following your death. [Section 4.8] |