Summary Plan Description Table of Contents
Payment of Benefits
Because the Retirement Savings Fund is designed to provide retirement income, certain rules apply as to when you become eligible to receive the money in your account and how your benefits will be paid.
Eligibility
Retirement
To receive a Retirement Savings Fund benefit, you must submit a written application. Applications are available at the Fund Office.
Generally, you are eligible to receive a benefit from the Retirement Savings Fund if you retire at or after age 55. Under the Retirement Savings Fund, Retirement means you stop working in self-employment or employment as an electrician in the construction industry in the geographic jurisdiction of the Union.
Disability
If you become “totally and permanently disabled,” you will be eligible to receive a benefit from the Retirement Savings Fund. You will be considered totally and permanently Disabled (based on medical evidence) if:
- You have been Disabled by bodily injury or disease so that you cannot engage in work that is covered by a collective bargaining agreement; and
- Your Disability is permanent and continuous for the remainder of your life.
If You Leave Covered Employment Before You Retire
You are eligible to receive a benefit from the Retirement Savings Fund if you have not worked in employment or self-employment as an electrician in the construction industry in the geographic jurisdiction of the Union for at least 12 consecutive months. To receive a benefit from the Retirement Savings Fund, you need to file an application for benefits.
If You Die Before You Retire
You die before you receive your individual account, a death benefit equal to the sum of your individual account payable in a lump in the following manner:
- To your surviving spouse;
- If your spouse does not survive you or your surviving spouse consented to another person being your designated beneficiary, the person you designated as your beneficiary (or the contingent beneficiary in the event of the designated beneficiary’s death);
- If no beneficiary survives you, to your dependent children in equal shares;
- If none survives you, to your non-dependent children in equal shares;
- If none survives you, to your surviving parents in equal share; or
- If none survives you, to your executor or other personal representative to receive distribution in accordance with your will or state law applicable to distribution of intestate estates.
Required Beginning Date
Payment of benefits will begin no later than April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which you reach age 70½ (age 72 if you turned 70½ after December 31, 2019). If your Required Beginning Date is age 72, you may elect to voluntarily start your benefits on or after April 1 of the year following the year in which you reach age 70½ even though you have not retired.
If the Trustees are not able to locate you or your beneficiaries when payment should be made, payment will be made as soon as the Trustees are able to locate you, your heirs or your legal representative.
Benefit Amount
When you become eligible for and elect distribution of your Retirement Savings Fund account, the amount of your benefit will be based on the balance of your individual account as of the last valuation date plus any Employer contributions made to your account or distributions from your account since the last valuation date. Valuation dates occur on each day that the New York Stock Exchange is open.
If the amount of your individual account is $5,000 or less, the Plan will cash out your benefit in one lump sum and rolled over into an individual retirement account designated by the Trustees unless you reject the distribution method. If rejected, the distribution will be rolled over into an eligible retirement plan you elect or will be paid directly to you. If the distribution is paid to you, the 20% withholding for federal income tax will apply (see page 14).
Forms of Payment
When you become eligible for and elect payment of your Retirement Savings Fund benefit, you will need to decide how you want to have your benefit paid. The Retirement Savings Fund offers the following forms of payment:
- Lump-Sum; or
- Equal Monthly Installments.