Normal Retirement

You are eligible to withdraw your individual account balance on your normal retirement date. If your birthday is on the 1st of the month, your normal retirement date is on your 65th birthday. If your birthday is on any other day of the month, your normal retirement date is on the 1st of the next month.

Early Retirement

You can also withdraw your balance when you reach age 55 provided that 1) you either have begun to receive retirement benefits under the Southern California IBEW-NECA Pension Plan or 2) if you are not a participant in that plan, you have earned 15,000 covered hours under this DC Pension Plan and you are retired from working in covered or uncovered electrical employment.

Withdrawal Optional Until Age 70 & 1/2

You can elect to retire any time after reaching your normal or early retirement date and withdraw your individual account. You are not required to withdraw your balance until you reach age 70 & 1/2 regardless of whether you are retired under the DB Pension Plan. At that time, if you are not working, the Trust Fund is required to begin distributing your account balance to you.

Amount You Will Get

The amount you can withdraw is the entire balance of your individual account. This reflects contributions and withdrawals since last quarter but no Investment returns.

Partial Withdrawals and the $5,000 Limit

You may choose to leave part of your balance in your individual account, in order to allow the balance to continue to grow without the earnings being subject to income tax or for any other reason. This option is subject to the rule that you leave at least $5,000 in the account.

Choosing How to Receive Your Withdrawal

If you are married, by law, the normal form of withdrawing your account balance is in the form of a "joint and 50% survivor annuity" unless you choose another option and your spouse consents to this in a notarized document. The joint and 50% survivor annuity provides you with monthly payments for your lifetime. If your spouse survives you, monthly payments will continue to your surviving spouse for your spouse's lifetime in an amount equal to 50% of the payments you were receiving. In defined contribution plans, most participants choose one of the other available options.

The optional payment forms for a married participant are:

1. payment in a single lump sum,
2. payment in annual installments over a period of at least two years but not more than five years,
3. a single life pension in the form of an annuity purchased through an insurance company.

If you are not married, distribution will be made as a single life annuity unless you elect otherwise. A single life annuity provides monthly payments for your lifetime, with no payments continuing after your death.

The optional payment forms for an unmarried participant are the single lump sum payment or the installment payments over two to five years.

Whether you are married or unmarried, election of an optional payment form must be made within 90 days before the date distribution of your account is made or begins.

If your balance is $5,000.00 or less, it will be paid in a single lump sum, and you cannot elect an optional form.

Tax Issues

Your withdrawal is normally treated as taxable income. In order to avoid a large tax liability you have the option to "roll over" your balance to a regular Individual Retirement Account (IRA). See the Special Tax Notice for more information.