Northwest Carpenters Retirement Plan

Special Early Retirement 

Eligibility and Retirement Date

To be eligible for special early retirement you must be:

  • Vested in this plan;
  • Age 55 through age 64;
  • 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 any type of work for an employer that contributes to the plan.

Prior to January 1, 2017, you were required to satisfy the five-year vesting rule to be eligible for special early retirement. Effective January 1, 2017, you may qualify for special early retirement if you satisfy the three-year vesting rule.

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 form and related documents.

  • For additional information about special early retirement eligibility, please see Article 4.2.2.

Monthly Benefit

Under special early retirement, your monthly income is your monthly traditional income benefit plus your monthly sustainable income benefit less the appropriate reduction for special early retirement (if applicable), less the appropriate reduction for a joint and survivor benefit (if applicable). Your total monthly benefit is reduced because your monthly payments will begin earlier and will likely be paid for a longer period of time than if you had retired under normal retirement. Under special early retirement, you can retire at ages 62 through 64 and your monthly traditional and sustainable income benefits are not reduced for early retirement. If you retire between ages 55 through 61, your early retirement reductions are less than it would be if you retired under regular early retirement. Traditional special early retirement reduction factors are listed in Table 5. The 2018 sustainable special early retirement reduction factors are listed in Table 6. These factors are subject to change each year and are available on the Carpenters Trusts website: www.carpentersbenefits.org. 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 following examples illustrate how to calculate a special early retirement income.

Example 1

If you are single and retire at age 60 in 2018 under special 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 0.940 = $1,880.00

Initial Sustainable Income Benefit
$100.00 x 0.880 = $88.00

Total Initial Monthly Benefit
$1,880.00 + $88.00 = $1,968.00

In this example, your $2,000.00 traditional income benefit is reduced by $120.00 for special early retirement at age 60 (please see Table 5). Your initial $100.00 sustainable income benefit is reduced by $12.00 for special early retirement at age 60 (please see Table 6). This provides you with an initial monthly benefit of $1,968.00. Your sustainable income benefit will continue to be adjusted to reflect investment performance each year during your retirement. Your traditional income benefit remains unchanged.

Example 2

If you are single and retire at age 62 in 2018 under special 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 special early retirement at ages 62-64 (please see Table 5 and Table 6). This provides you with an initial monthly benefit of $2,100.00 at retirement. Your sustainable income benefit will continue to be adjusted to reflect investment performance each year during your retirement. Your traditional income benefit remains unchanged.

Example 3

If you are married and retire at age 60 in 2018 under special 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 0.940 = $1,880.00
$1,880.00 x 0.870 = $1,635.60

Initial Sustainable Income Benefit
$100.00 x 0.880 = $88.00
$88.00 x 0.906 = $79.73

Total Initial Monthly Benefit
$1,635.60 + $79.73 = $1,715.33
$1,715.33 x 0.50 = $857.67

In this example, your $2,000.00 traditional income benefit is reduced by $120.00 for special early retirement at age 60 (please see Table 5) and by $244.40 for a 50% joint and survivor benefit (please see Table 7). Your initial $100.00 sustainable income benefit is reduced by $12.00 for special early retirement at age 60 (please see Table 6) and by $8.27 for a 50% joint and survivor benefit (please see www.carpentersbenefits.org). This provides you with an initial monthly benefit of $1,715.33 and a monthly benefit of 50% of your monthly benefit for the rest of your spouse's life 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 benefit remains unchanged.

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.

  • For additional information about the monthly benefit available under special early retirement, please see Article 6.2.2.

Table 5
Special Early Retirement Reduction Factors For All Years
Traditional Income Benefits

To qualify for the special early retirement reduction factors you must be vested under the three- or five-year vesting rule of this plan, satisfy the activity test (750 hours of service in the three plan years immediately preceding your retirement date), and retire on or after January 1, 1988.

If you qualify for special early retirement, select the year and month closest to your age on your retirement date. Then multiply your monthly benefit by the corresponding reduction factor. There is no reduction for early retirement between the ages of 62-64.
Age – Factor
55 – 0 67.00
55 – 1 67.50
55 – 2 68.00
55 – 3 68.50
55 – 4 69.00
55 – 5 69.50
55 – 6 70.00
55 – 7 70.50
55 – 8 71.00
55 – 9 71.50
55 – 10 72.00
55 – 11 72.50
56 – 0 73.00
56 – 1 73.50
56 – 2 74.00
56 – 3 74.50
56 – 4 75.00
56 – 5 75.50
56 – 6 76.00
56 – 7 76.50
56 – 8 77.00
56 – 9 77.50
56 – 10 78.00
56 – 11 78.50
57 – 0 79.00
57 – 1 79.50
57 – 2 80.00
57 – 3 80.50
57 – 4 81.00
57 – 5 81.50
57 – 6 82.00
57 – 7 82.50
57 – 8 83.00
57 – 9 83.50
57 – 10 84.00
57 – 11 84.50
58 – 0 85.00
58 – 1 85.50
58 – 2 86.00
58 – 3 86.50
58 – 4 87.00
58 – 5 87.50
58 – 6 88.00
58 – 7 88.50
58 – 8 89.00
58 – 9 89.50
58 – 10 90.00
58 – 11 90.50
59 – 0 91.00
59 – 1 91.25
59 – 2 91.50
59 – 3 91.75
59 – 4 92.00
59 – 5 92.25
59 – 6 92.50
59 – 7 92.75
59 – 8 93.00
59 – 9 93.25
59 – 10 93.50
59 – 11 93.75
60 – 0 94.00
60 – 1 94.25
60 – 2 94.50
60 – 3 94.75
60 – 4 95.00
60 – 5 95.25
60 – 6 95.50
60 – 7 95.75
60 – 8 96.00
60 – 9 96.25
60 – 10 96.50
60 – 11 96.75
61 – 0 97.00
61 – 1 97.25
61 – 2 97.50
61 – 3 97.75
61 – 4 98.00
61 – 5 98.25
61 – 6 98.50
61 – 7 98.75
61 – 8 99.00
61 – 9 99.25
61 – 10 99.50
61 – 11 99.75
62+ 100%

 


Table 6
Special Early Retirement Reduction Factors For 2018
Sustainable Income Benefits
Age – Factor
55 – 0 65.000
55 – 1 65.333
55 – 2 65.667
55 – 3 66.000
55 – 4 66.333
55 – 5 66.667
55 – 6 67.000
55 – 7 67.333
55 – 8 67.667
55 – 9 68.000
55 – 10 68.333
55 – 11 68.667
56 – 0 69.000
56 – 1 69.333
56 – 2 69.667
56 – 3 70.000
56 – 4 70.333
56 – 5 70.667
56 – 6 71.000
56 – 7 71.333
56 – 8 71.667
56 – 9 72.000
56 – 10 72.333
56 – 11 72.667
57 – 0 73.000
57 – 1 73.333
57 – 2 73.667
57 – 3 74.000
57 – 4 74.333
57 – 5 74.667
57 – 6 75.000
57 – 7 75.333
57 – 8 75.667
57 – 9 76.000
57 – 10 76.333
57 – 11 76.667
58 – 0 77.000
58 – 1 77.417
58 – 2 77.834
58 – 3 78.251
58 – 4 78.668
58 – 5 79.085
58 – 6 79.502
58 – 7 79.919
58 – 8 80.336
58 – 9 80.753
58 – 10 81.170
58 – 11 81.587
59 – 0 82.000
59 – 1 82.500
59 – 2 83.000
59 – 3 83.500
59 – 4 84.000
59 – 5 84.500
59 – 6 85.000
59 – 7 85.500
59 – 8 86.000
59 – 9 86.500
59 – 10 87.000
59 – 11 87.500
60 – 0 88.000
60 – 1 88.500
60 – 2 89.000
60 – 3 89.500
60 – 4 90.000
60 – 5 90.500
60 – 6 91.000
60 – 7 91.500
60 – 8 92.000
60 – 9 92.500
60 – 10 93.000
60 – 11 93.500
61 – 0 94.000
61 – 1 94.500
61 – 2 95.000
61 – 3 95.500
61 – 4 96.000
61 – 5 96.500
61 – 6 97.000
61 – 7 97.500
61 – 8 98.000
61 – 9 98.500
61 – 10 99.000
61 – 11 99.500
62+ 100%

Last Updated: 04/20/2023