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More Information and Tools for Understanding Retirement Plan Changes

This week, working participants will be receiving by mail additional details about upcoming changes to the Carpenters Retirement Plan.

A pamphlet titled, "Introducing Your New Sustainable Income Benefit," will provide an in-depth understanding of how the new benefit is calculated and other plan changes. A personalized statement will be included, showing the participant's current benefit (calculated under the traditional formula) and the projected future benefit calculated under the new sustainable income benefit formula. The personalized statement is based on the participant's age and the assumption that he or she will retire at age 62.

The sustainable income benefit is designed to increase over time based on the investment performance of the plan. An online modeling tool is available to help participants create different projections by changing his or her retirement age, annual hours, and investment returns. The modeling tool is available on Healthy Wealthy Wise, which is the secure area of the Carpenters Trusts of Western Washington website. Registration is required to access your benefits information. Go to http://www.carpentersbenefits.org/member to register or log on, or read the frequently asked questions to learn more about accessing your personal information through this website. Contact Participant Services at 800-552-0635 if you need help with your registration.

To access the modeling tool:

  1. Log on to Healthy Wealthy Wise.
  2. Click Retirement Plans from the left-hand menu.
  3. On the Retirement Plans page, you'll see your current balances for the Carpenters Retirement Plan and the Carpenters Individual Account Pension Plan.
  4. Look for links to the Pension Modeling Tool below the tables.

Representatives from Retirement Services are available to answer any questions you may have about your retirement benefits, including the new sustainable income benefit that goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2017. Just call 800-552-0635 or log on to Healthy Wealthy Wise and use Message Center to send a secure email.