When you're ready to retire, call Member Services at 800-551-3225 at least 4 months before your last day of work to request an appointment, by phone or in person, with a Retirement Counselor. Your Retirement Counselor will send you a pension estimate and an application for pension benefits, and will review all the paperwork with you during your counseling appointment. Your pension benefit will be paid monthly, effective the first day of the month following your retirement, provided all the paperwork is submitted properly and on time.

The following payment options are available to you if you are single when you complete your pension application:

• 5 Year Certain and Life Pension
• 10 Year Certain and Life Pension
• Lump Sum Payment (if the actuarial value of your monthly payments is less than $5,000)

The following payment options are available to you if you are married or in a domestic partner relationship when you complete your pension application:

• 5 Year Certain and Life Pension
• 10 Year Certain and Life Pension
• 50% Joint and Survivor Pension
• 66⅔% Joint and Survivor Pension
• 75% Joint and Survivor Pension
• 100% Joint and Survivor Pension
• Lump Sum Payment (if the actuarial value of your monthly payments is less than $5,000)

The 5 and 10 Year Certain and Life Pension options provide a benefit for your lifetime. If you die within 5 or 10 years (as elected) of having started your pension, your beneficiary will receive the same amount you were receiving for balance of the 5 or 10 year certain period. Nothing is payable to your beneficiary after the expiration of the certain period. If you are married and want to choose the 5 or 10 Year Certain and Life Pension, your spouse must sign a Spousal Waiver to indicate that he/she has agreed to give up his/her right to the Joint and Survivor Pension. If you are in a domestic partner relationship, you are not required to obtain your partner’s consent to elect a Certain and Life Pension.

A Joint and Survivor Pension is available for married participants or participants in a domestic partner relationship. Each of the Joint and Survivor Pension options provide a monthly retirement benefit to you for your lifetime and to your spouse or domestic partner should they survive you. If you are married you are required to elect one of the Joint and Survivor options unless your spouse consents (in writing) to the election of the 5 or 10 Year Certain and Life Pension options. If you elect a Joint and Survivor Pension and should die before your spouse or domestic partner, they receive either 50%, 66⅔%, 75% or 100% (as you elect at the time of your retirement) of the amount you had been receiving at the time of your death for the rest of his or her life. If your spouse or domestic partner dies before you, you will continue to receive the same monthly benefit you chose at the time of retirement for the rest of your life.

If the actuarial equivalent lump sum value of the benefits payable to you or your beneficiary is less than $5,000 , you or your beneficiary may elect to receive payment in the form of a single lump sum rather than a small monthly pension check (e.g., under $30 per month). If the lump sum value is $5,000 or more, the lump sum payment is not available and the benefits will be paid as a monthly annuity. If you or your beneficiary elect a lump sum payment, no further benefits will be paid from the Plan.

You may only name your spouse or domestic partner for survivor benefits under a Joint and Survivor Pension.

If you are married and your spouse agrees in writing, you can name someone other than your spouse to receive survivor benefits for the 5 or 10 Year Certain and Life Pension options. If your spouse does not agree by signing the Spousal Waiver, the payments will be made to him/her. If you are in a domestic partner relationship, you do not need your partner’s consent to elect another beneficiary.

Your spouse can change the Spousal Waiver before pension payments begin. Your spouse must notify the Fund before the date payments are set to begin in writing at the following address:

No, you may not change the form of payment you have chosen once your pension has started.

If you are divorced when you retire and commence your pension, you are not obligated to elect a Joint and Survivor pension. The only exception is if there is a special court order (a Qualified Domestic Relation Order - QDRO) that requires you to make such an election. If you are thinking about getting a divorce, you should get legal advice from a lawyer on your rights to benefits under the Plan. It is also a good idea to have the Fund office review a draft of the QDRO to determine whether it is qualified prior to entering it in court. If a domestic relations order is not qualified, then the Fund office cannot enforce the terms of the order.

You can retire as early as age 55 if you have at least 10 years of Vesting Service. Your pension will be reduced based on the number of months you retire before age 65. Your monthly benefit is reduced by one-half percent for each month you retire early; this reduction is necessary because you will receive a pension benefit for a longer period of time than if you retire at age 65, your Normal Retirement Age. Alternatively, you may retire at your Normal Retirement Age.

Benefit payments are made on or about the first of the month for that month. The best way to guarantee that your pension benefit is available to you about the same day every month is to have it deposited directly into your bank account through our Direct Deposit program. Direct deposit offers you the convenience of having your money available on the first of every month without having to go to the bank, and peace of mind in knowing that your benefit is safely deposited in your account - not delayed in the mail, or sitting in your mailbox while you're away.

Your pension benefit is taxable because it is considered income for federal tax purposes. If requested, the Plan will deduct federal taxes from your pension check. Special rules apply for retirees who are U.S. citizens and live out of the country.

In most instances, no. However, if your pension is payable as a lump sum because the value is less than $5,000, yes.

Benefits are not based on the payment of dues. Participation in the pension depends on the terms of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) under which you were covered. If the CBA required contributions to the pension plan for your category of employment, you may be a participant in the Plan. Eligibility for a pension is subject to satisfaction of the Plan’s vesting requirements.

No. The pension plan does not accept contributions from its participants. The Plan only accepts contributions from employers who are signatory to a CBA with the Fund. The contributions made by your employer ensure that vested participants will receive a defined benefit pension when they retire. Upon retirement, vested participants are guaranteed to receive a specific, monthly pension benefit for the rest of their lives.

Your pension may be suspended. Payments begin when you retire under the rules of the Plan and will generally continue for the rest of your life. However, if you work in suspendable employment after retirement and have not reached your Required Beginning Date (April 1st of the calendar year following the calendar year in which you attain age 70½), your pension may be suspended. The Fund office will work with you to determine if you can continue to receive your pension benefits based on the number of hours you work in suspendable employment. Please refer to the Plan's Summary Plan Description (SPD) for additional detail.

Depending on the retirement benefit option you chose when you applied for retirement benefits, you may be able to change your beneficiary. Under the 5 or 10 Year Certain and Life Pension options, you may change your beneficiary before the certain period expires. If you were married when you retired and elected a Certain and Life payment option, you will need your spouse’s consent to change your beneficiary. You cannot change your beneficiary if you are receiving a Joint & Survivor Pension option even if your spouse or domestic partner dies or if you get divorced.

Yes, you will be eligible for a vested benefit when you retire. The benefit is payable at your normal retirement date (the first day of the month after you turn 65) or at an earlier retirement date if you meet the Plan’s early retirement eligibility requirements. Please refer to the SPD for more information.

You may write to the Fund office at the address below and ask for a “Benefit Statement”. Based on information available from your employer, your benefit statement will provide an estimated annual benefit payable at age 65.

32BJ Connecticut Pension Fund
Retirement Services Department
25 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
Attention: Benefit Statement Request

Yes. The pension plan is a defined benefit plan that provides guaranteed lifetime benefits to vested participants when they retire. Benefits under the Plan are also insured to a limited degree by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federal insurance agency. For further information about the PBGC and the benefits it guarantees, visit its Web site at www.pbgc.gov or call them at (202) 326-4000.

Federal law requires that if you are married, vested in your pension benefit, and die before you retire, your spouse is eligible to receive a pre-retirement survivor benefit in the form of a 50% Joint and Survivor Pension for the rest of his or her life. Your spouse can start receiving the benefit when you would have first been eligible to start your pension. There are no survivor benefits payable from the Plan if you die before retiring and are not married at that time.

Yes! Contact Member Services at 800-551-3225 whenever you:

• Change your address, or phone number.
• Change your name. Participants must send any change of name to the Plan office in writing at:

32BJ Connecticut Pension Fund
Retirement Services Department
25 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011

• Get married, divorced, separated, or become widowed before you retire. Your marital status at the time you retire determines your benefit payment options at retirement. It also affects what happens to your pension benefit if you're vested and die before you retire. So be sure to notify the Fund office of any changes. It's best to send certified or notarized documents to the Plan office whenever your circumstances change.