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Form of Payment |
How will my pension benefit be paid to me? There are two normal forms of pension payments. If you are unmarried when your pension payments commence, your pension automatically will be paid in the form of a Single Life Annuity. If you are married on the date your pension payments commence, the law requires that your pension automatically be paid in the form of a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity. Alternatively, you may elect to have your pension benefit paid in any optional form offered under the Plan, subject to spousal consent. The optional forms of payment are described below. What is a Single Life Annuity? This form of payment provides you with equal monthly benefits payable for your lifetime, only. In the event of your death, payments will cease. What is a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity with Pop-up? A Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity is a form of benefit payment which pays a reduced benefit during your lifetime with 50% of the reduced amount payable after your death to your surviving spouse for your spouse's lifetime. This survivor benefit will be paid only to the spouse who was married to you on the date your benefit payments first started. Because a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity is payable for as long as either you or your spouse are alive, it provides a smaller monthly benefit than the Single Life Annuity. If your spouse dies before you, your monthly benefit will “pop-up” to the amount of benefit you would have received had you originally elected the unreduced Single Life Annuity. The “pop-up” benefit will become payable as of the first day of the month following the month in which your spouse dies, provided you file a written application for the “pop-up” benefit, and you provide proof of your spouse’s death. |