Northwest Carpenters Retirement Plan

Rule of 80 Early Retirement 

Eligibility and Retirement Date

To be eligible for rule of 80 early retirement you must be:

  • Vested in this plan;
  • Age 55 through age 61;
  • Your age plus whole years of credited service in the Northwest Carpenters Retirement Plan equals 80 or more. For example, if you are age 55 and have 25 years of credited service in this plan, you satisfy this eligibility requirement for rule of 80 early retirement. Similarly, if you are age 58 and have 22 years of credited service in this plan, you satisfy this eligibility requirement. In certain circumstances, credited service in the Carpenters Retirement Plan of Oregon and Washington can count toward rule of 80 early retirement. Please contact Retirement Services at Carpenters Trusts for details;
  • Have at least 750 hours of service in this plan in the three calendar years immediately preceding your retirement effective date; and
  • No longer working in the building and construction industry in any geographic area.

Your retirement date cannot be earlier than the later of (1) the first of any month following your 55th birthday, or (2) the first of the month following receipt of your completed Application For Retirement Benefits and Carpenters Retirement Plan Explanation of Payment Options and Election of Retirement Benefits and related documents.

  • For additional information about rule of 80 early retirement eligibility, please see Article 4.2.3.

Monthly Benefit

Under rule of 80 early retirement, your monthly income is your monthly traditional income benefit plus your monthly sustainable income benefit less the appropriate reductions for a joint and survivor (if applicable). Traditional joint and survivor factors are listed in Table 7. Sustainable joint and survivor factors are subject to change each year and are available on the Carpenters Trusts website: www.carpentersbenefits.org. The examples on the next page illustrate how to calculate a rule of 80 early retirement income.

Retirement benefits are taxable income. Carpenters Trusts will provide you with a Form 1099-R in late January of each year for the upcoming April 15 tax deadline.

Example 1

If you are single and retire at age 55 in 2018 under rule of 80 early retirement with a traditional income benefit of $2,000.00 and a sustainable income benefit of $100.00, what is your initial monthly benefit?

Traditional Income Benefit
$2,000.00 x 1.000 = $2,000.00

Initial Sustainable Income Benefit
$100.00 x 1.000 = $100.00

Total Initial Monthly Benefit
$2,000.00 + $100.00 = $2,100.00

In this example, your $2,000.00 traditional income benefit and your initial $100.00 sustainable income benefit are unreduced for rule of 80 early retirement at ages 55-61. Your sustainable income benefit will continue to be adjusted to reflect investment performance each year during your retirement. Your traditional benefit remains unchanged.

  • For additional information about the monthly benefit available under rule of 80 early retirement, please see Article 6.2.3.

Post-Retirement Employment Under the Rule of 80

If you retire under rule of 80 early retirement, are under age 65, and engage in post-retirement employment above the minimum level allowed by the plan, your monthly benefit will be suspended (please see "Post-Retirement Employment and Suspension of Benefits"). When your monthly benefit is reinstated, it will be recalculated at the monthly benefit level provided under regular early retirement. This represents a substantial loss in monthly income and cannot be changed. Please contact Retirement Services at Carpenters Trusts if you have any questions regarding post-retirement employment.

Example 2

If you are married and retire at age 55 in 2018 under rule of 80 early retirement with a traditional income benefit of $2,000.00 and a sustainable income benefit of $100.00, what is your initial monthly benefit? Your spouse is two years younger than you and you elect a 50% joint and survivor benefit:

Traditional Income Benefit
$2,000.00 x 0.870 = $1,740.00

Initial Sustainable Income Benefit
$100.00 x 0.906 = $90.60

Total Initial Monthly Benefit
$1,740.00 + $90.60 = $1,830.60
$1,830.60 x 0.50 = $915.30

In this example, your $2,000.00 traditional income benefit and your initial $100.00 sustainable income benefit are unreduced for rule of 80 early retirement at ages 55-61. Your $2,000.00 traditional income benefit is reduced by $260.00 for a 50% joint and survivor benefit (please see Table 7) and your initial $100.00 sustainable income benefit is reduced by $9.40 for a 50% joint and survivor benefit (please see www.carpentersbenefits.org). This provides you with an initial monthly benefit of $1,830.60 and a monthly benefit for the rest of your spouse's life equal to 50% of your monthly benefit if you predecease your spouse. Your sustainable income benefit will continue to be adjusted to reflect investment performance each year during your retirement and during your spouse's life if you predecease your spouse. Your traditional income benefit remains unchanged.

  • For additional information about post-retirement employment under the rule of 80, please see Article 6.2.3.

Last Updated: 04/20/2023