Pension - Benefits

Eligibility

You are eligible for a Regular Pension if you satisfy either one of the following conditions:

You are at least age 65 and have attained Vested Status; or
You have otherwise attained your Normal Retirement Age.

You attain Normal Retirement Age when (1) you are at least age 65 and have reached the 5th anniversary of your participation (excluding any years of participation prior to January 1, 1988 and/or years lost due to a Permanent Break in Service); or (2) you are at least age 65 and have reached the 10th anniversary of your participation (excluding any years of participation lost due to a Permanent Break in Service).

Pension Amount

In general, the total amount of your monthly Regular Pension depends on:

The number of Benefits Units earned and the amount payable for each Benefit Unit; and
The percentage factor applicable to Employer Contributions required to be made with respect to your work in Covered Employment on or after January 1, 1987.

Pensions with Annuity Starting Dates on or after January 1, 2003 (if there has been no Separation from Covered Employment) are based on the sum of the following formulas:*

For Calendar Years	Minimum Service Requirement to Earn a Benefit	Formula
January 1, 1960 through December 31, 1969	Minimum fraction of a Benefit Unit	$10.00 for each Contributory Benefit Unit (or a proportional amount for each fraction of a Benefit Unit).
January 1, 1970 through December 31, 1986	Minimum fraction of a Benefit Unit	$83.33 for each Contributory Benefit Unit (or a proportionate amount for each fraction of a Benefit Unit) up to a maximum of 17 Contributory Benefit Units.
January 1, 1987 (or your Contribution Date if later) through December 31, 1998	At least 400 Hours of Service in Covered Employment in Calendar Year or Year of Credited Service (counting any hours of Continuous Employment).	4.3% of Employer Contributions for work in Covered Employment in Calendar Year.
January 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999	At least 400 Hours of Service in Covered Employment in Calendar Year or Year of Credited Service (counting any hours of Continuous Employment).	3.5% of Employer Contributions for work in Covered Employment in Calendar Year.
January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2002	At least 400 Hours of Service in Covered Employment in Calendar Year or Year of Credited Service (counting any hours of Continuous Employment).	3.0% of Employer Contributions for work in Covered Employment in Calendar Year.
January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003	At least 400 Hours of Service in Covered Employment in Calendar Year or Year of Credited Service (counting any hours of Continuous Employment).	3.0% of Employer Contributions for work in Covered Employment from January 1, 2003 through June 30, 2003 and 1.0% of Employer Contributions for work in Covered Employment from July 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003.
January 1, 2004 and later	At least 400 Hours of Service in Covered Employment in Calendar Year or Year of Credited Service (counting any hours of Continuous Employment).	1.0% of Employer Contributions for work in Covered Employment in Calendar Year.
Exceptions: Benefits for periods prior to January 1, 1994 as described in (1) and (2) above, shall be in lieu of any benefit determined under Section 3.03.a. of the Plan Document in effect prior to January 1, 1994. However, in no event shall the current formula covering that time period produce a benefit that is less than that which would have been determined under Section 3.03.a. of the Plan in effect prior to January 1, 1994 for that same time period. Benefits for the period January 1, 1987 through December 31, 1993 as described in (2) above shall be in lieu of any benefit determined under Section 3.03.a. in effect prior to January 1, 1998 for that time period. However, in no event shall the current formula covering that time period produce a benefit that is less than that which would have been determined under Section 3.03.a. of the Plan in effect prior to January 1, 1998 for that same time period.

* The formula shown above may not apply to your pension benefit if you have been absent from Covered Employment and have incurred a Separation from Covered Employment. In general, this would result in your benefit accrued prior to the Separation being frozen at the time of Separation.

There have been changes to the benefit formulas. The benefit described above is in lieu of benefits under any other formula under the Plan. However, in no event will such changes result in your accrued benefit being reduced from the prior benefit formula in effect when the benefit was earned.

Regular Pension Example

This is an example of how a Regular Pension is calculated. It does not represent any Participant’s actual benefit. For the sake of simplicity, we have used an hourly rate of $1.72. In reality, contribution rates have varied over the years and portions of hourly contribution rates (often referred to as “off-benefit contributions”) may have been used to improve the funding of the Pension Plan and not to calculate the benefit for the calendar year in question.

Assume that you are age 65 and retire on January 1, 2015. You first began working in Covered Employment on January 1, 1986 and have worked 1,200 in each Calendar Year between then and your retirement. Again, for the sake of simplicity we have used a constant hourly contribution rate of $1.72.

Portion of Regular Pension earned prior to January 1, 1987
Plan Year	Hours of Work	1 Benefit Unit @ $83.33		Benefit
Jan. 1, 1986 – Dec. 31, 1986	1,200	$83.33		$83.33
Portion of Regular Pension earned on or after January 1, 1987
Plan Year	Hours of Work	Hourly Contribution Rate	Percentage Factor	Benefit
Jan. 1, 1987 – Dec. 31, 1987	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1988 – Dec. 31, 1988	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1989 – Dec. 31, 1989	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1990 – Dec. 31, 1990	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1991 – Dec. 31, 1991	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1992 – Dec. 31, 1992	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1993 – Dec. 31, 1993	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1994 – Dec. 31, 1994	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1995 – Dec. 31, 1995	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1996 – Dec. 31, 1996	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1997—Dec. 31, 1997	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1998 – Dec. 31, 1998	1,200	$1.72	4.3%	$88.75
Jan. 1, 1999 – Dec. 31, 1999	1,200	$1.72	3.5%	$72.24
Jan. 1, 2000 – Dec. 31, 2000	1,200	$1.72	3.0%	$61.92
Jan. 1, 2001 – Dec. 31, 2001	1,200	$1.72	3.0%	$61.92
Jan. 1, 2002 – Dec. 31, 2002	1,200	$1.72	3.0%	$61.92
Jan. 1, 2003 – Dec. 31, 2003 Jan. 1, 2003 – Jun. 30, 2003 July 1, 2003 – Dec. 31, 2003	600 600	$1.72 $1.72	3.0% 1.0%	$30.96 $10.32
Jan. 1, 2004 – Dec. 31, 2004	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2005 – Dec. 31, 2005	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2006 – Dec. 31, 2006	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2007 – Dec. 31, 2007	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2008 – Dec. 31, 2008	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2009 – Dec. 31, 2009	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2010 – Dec. 31, 2010	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2011 – Dec. 31, 2011	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2012 – Dec. 31, 2012	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2013 – Dec. 31, 2013	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2014 – Dec. 31, 2014	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2015 – Dec. 31, 2015	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2016 – Dec. 31, 2016	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Jan. 1, 2017 – Dec. 31, 2017	1,200	$1.72	1.0%	$20.64
Total Regular Pension Payable January 1, 2018				$1,736.57
Total Regular Pension Payable January 1, 2018 (Rounded)				$1,737.00

Eligibility

You are eligible for an Early Retirement Pension if when you retire:

You are at least age 55, but not yet age 65; and
You have earned 10 Years of Credited Service (excluding Years of Credited Service lost due to a Permanent Break-in-Service and any Credited Current Service earned as a result of Continuous Non- Covered Employment).

Pension Amount

The amount of your Early Retirement Pension is reduced from the amount of the Regular Pension because you are younger when your pension begins. This means, of course, that you will be paid a pension for a longer period of time than if you had waited until you met the age requirements for a Regular Pension.

In order to calculate the amount of the Early Retirement Pension, the first step is to determine the amount of the Regular Pension you would receive if you were age 65 when your pension starts.

This amount is multiplied by an actuarial factor based on your age on the effective date of your Early Retirement Pension. The table below shows selected factors for Early Retirement Pensions with Annuity Starting Dates on and after January 1, 2010 and are based on even ages (for example, age 55 years and 0 months).* The actual amount of your Early Retirement Pension will be adjusted based on your actual age in years and months.

Age	Percentage of Regular Pension Amount
65	100% – Eligible for Regular Pension
64	90.2%
63	81.5%
62	73.9%
61	67.1%
60	61.0%
59	55.6%
58	50.8%
57	46.4%
56	42.5%
55	39.0%

* A different adjustment formula was applied to calculate Early Retirement Pensions with Annuity Starting Dates prior to January 1, 2010. For a description of that formula, please refer to the Pension Plan’s rules and regulations in effect prior to January 1, 2010.

Special Note on Penalties for Engaging in Non-Covered Employment: If you have worked for a Non-Contributing Employer in the painting or drywall taping industry (except for a governmental agency), your entitlement to an Early Retirement Pension will be postponed six months for each calendar quarter you worked in such employment (but not beyond age 65). However, your Annuity Starting Date will not be postponed if you meet all of the following requirements:

You have earned at least 20 Benefit Units before you became employed with non-contributing employer in the painting and/or drywall industry; and
Your non-contributing employer subsequently becomes a Contributing Employer; and
You have no termination in employment with the Contributing Employer in question between periods of Covered and Non-Covered Employment; and
After the non-contributing employer becomes a Contributing Employer, you have earned at least five Benefit Units based solely on service with that Employer. (Refer to Section 11.06 of the Plan Document)

Eligibility

If you are younger than age 65 and have retired, you are eligible for a Service Pension provided you meet any one of the following requirements:

Minimum Age	Hours of Contributions Requirement (Hourly contribution rate must include additional $.54 per hour earmarked to fund the Service Pension on and after August 1, 1997)
62	45,000 hours of Contributions
55	54,000 hours of Contributions
No Minimum Age	60,000 hours of Contributions

For purposes of determining eligibility for a Service Pension, any credits earned under a Related Plan (Refer to Article 4 of the Plan Document) are not counted. However, credits earned under a pension plan that is signatory to the Reciprocal Agreement for Joint Industry Pension Funds of all District Councils and Local Unions Affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades are counted (Refer to Article 5 of the Plan Document). No more than one year of Total Pension Credit from all signatory plans will be counted for any twelve consecutive calendar months.

Pension Amount

The amount of the Service Pension is determined in the same way as the Regular Pension (i.e., without reduction for early retirement).

Different rules pertaining to eligibility and benefit amounts applied to Service Pensions with Annuity Starting Dates prior to January 1, 2010. For a description of those rules, please refer to the Pension Plan’s rules and regulations in effect prior to January 1, 2010.

Special Note on Penalties for Engaging in Non-Covered Employment: If you have worked for a Non-Contributing Employer in the painting or drywall taping industry (except for a governmental agency), your entitlement to a Service Pension will be postponed six months for each calendar quarter you worked in such employment. However, your Annuity Starting Date will not be postponed if you meet all of the following requirements:

You have earned at least 20 Benefit Units before you became employed with non-contributing employer in the painting and/or drywall industry; and
Your non-contributing employer subsequently becomes a Contributing Employer; and
You have no termination in employment with the Contributing Employer in question between periods of Covered and Non-Covered Employment; and
After the non-contributing employer becomes a Contributing Employer, you have earned at least five Benefit Units based solely on service with that Employer. (Refer to Section 11.06 of the Plan Document)

If you have worked under this Plan and under one or more pension plans related to it through a reciprocal agreement between the Bay Area Painters and Tapers Pension Trust Fund and the other plan(s), you may be entitled to a Pro Rata Pension. A Pro Rata Pension provides a benefit (other than a Service Pension) to those who may not be eligible for benefits under any one pension plan because their working time was divided between two or more plans.

Eligibility

You are eligible for a Pro Rata Pension if:

You would be entitled to a pension (other than a Service Pension) if your Combined Credited Service (service actually earned under this Plan added to service earned under a Related Plan) were treated as “Bay Area” Credited Service, excluding any Credited Service earned in Non-Covered Employment; and
You have earned at least one Contributory Benefit Unit under the Bay Area Painters and Tapers Pension Plan and one year of contributory service with a Related Plan (i.e., a plan whose hours of employment and credit is recognized by the Board of Trustees for purposes of determining eligibility for certain benefits under the Bay Area Painters and Tapers Pension Plan).

Pension Amount

A Pro Rata Pension is determined in the same way as the Regular, Early Retirement or Disability Pension – depending on the type of Pro Rata Pension for which you are eligible. Only Benefit Units and Contributions earned under the Bay Area Painters and Tapers Pension Plan are used to figure the amount of a Pro Rata Pension.

The other Related Plans will also pay Pro Rata Pensions based on your service with each plan and the level of benefits available under those plans. Your total pension is the sum of all the Pro Rata Pensions.

Additional information concerning Pro Rata Pensions including the use of Related Plan Credits to determine whether you incur a Break in Service or Separation in Covered Employment may be obtained by referring to Article 4 of the Plan or by contacting the Administrative Office.

A Partial pension is similar to a Pro Rata Pension in that it provides benefits if you lack sufficient credits to qualify for any pension (or if your pension would be less than the full amount) because your years of employment are divided among plans which are signatory to the “Reciprocal Agreement for Joint Industry Pension Funds of all District Councils and Local Unions Affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades.” Plans who have signed the Agreement agree to recognize the pension credits of other such plans. In calculating pension credit, you will receive no more than one year of credit from all plans combined during any twelve calendar months.

Eligibility

You are eligible for a Partial Pension if:

You would be eligible for any type of pension under this plan if your total pension credit under all signatory plans were treated as service under this Plan; and
You have earned under each of the signatory plans, in which you have credited service, at least one (1) year of pension credit; and
If you are applying for a pension based on disability, you are able to meet the definition of “total disability” under this Plan; and
If you are applying for a pension based on age, you meet the minimum age requirements under this Plan.

Pension Amount

The benefit payable under this Plan is calculated in the same manner as other pensions under this Plan and is subject to the Separation from Covered Employment provisions.

Additional information concerning Partial Pensions including the use of signatory plan credits to determine whether you incur a Break in Service may be obtained by referring to Article 5 of the Plan, or by contacting the Administrative Office.

Although the Plan’s Normal Retirement Age is generally age 65 and pensions that commence at that age are not subject to adjustment for early retirement, there is no requirement that you must retire or begin receiving your pension at age 65. However, it must begin by your Required Beginning Date.

After Normal Retirement Age

If you continue to work in the painting and taping industry after reaching Normal Retirement Age, your pension benefits will be subject to suspension under the Plan provisions described in Working After Retirement. As a result, you will not be entitled to any pension benefits (including any actuarial increased benefits or retroactive lump sum payments) for months during which your pension was subject to suspension. However, if your work was in Covered Employment, you may accrue additional benefits on the same basis as any other Plan Participant working in Covered Employment until you retire.

If your pension commences after you attain Normal Retirement Age, your benefit will consist of one of the following:

Your accrued benefit at Normal Retirement Age actuarially increased by .75% for each full calendar month between Normal Retirement Age and your Annuity Starting Date; or
A retroactive one-time lump sum payment consisting of missed monthly payments of your accrued benefit between Normal Retirement Age and your Annuity Starting Date with interest. Thereafter, you receive a monthly benefit equal to your accrued benefit at Normal Retirement Age, adjusted to include any additional benefits to which you became entitled after your Normal Retirement Age.

The following rules apply to your election of one of the preceding benefits:

You may elect one or the other payment, but not both. If you are married and wish to elect the retroactive one-time lump sum payment instead of the actuarially increased benefit, your spouse must consent to your election.
If you earn any additional benefits after Normal Retirement Age, the actuarial increase or retroactive payment with interest will start on the additional benefits when they first would be payable and not from Normal Retirement Age.
No actuarial increases or retroactive payments with interest are due for months during which your benefits would have been subject to suspension.

Example: A Participant had an accrued benefit of $1,000 that was payable at his age 65 Normal Retirement Age. While he did not work after Normal Retirement Age, he did not apply to receive his pension until he attained age 66 (12 months later). Here is how his benefit would look under each option.

	Actuarially Increased Benefit	Retroactive Lump Sum
Benefit at Age 65	$1,000	$1,000
Number of Months Between Ages 65 and 66	12	12
Retroactive Lump Sum	N/A	$12,000
Interest on Lump Sum	N/A	$260
Actuarial Increase (.75% x 12 months)	9.00%	N/A
Amount Owed and Payable through 12^th month	N/A	$12,260
Amount of First Payment beginning 13^th month and beyond	$1,090	$1,000

Required Beginning Date

While you may defer payment of your Regular Pension beyond your Normal Retirement Age, payment of your pension must begin no later than your Required Beginning Date. Your Required Beginning Date is the April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year that you attain age 70 ½.

Example: If you were born on September 1, 1940, you attained age 70 on September 1, 2010 and age 70 ½ on March 1, 2011. Since you attained age 70 ½ in calendar year 2011, your Required Beginning Date is April 1, 2012 which is the April 1 of the calendar year (2012) following the calendar year in which you attained age 70 ½ (2011).

It is very important that you keep the Administrative Office informed of your current address and telephone number and, if you have not already retired, contact the Administrative Office when you attain age 70 to ensure that your benefit will start no later than your Required Beginning Date.

Important: In addition to the Plan rules that apply to your Required Beginning Date, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has similar required minimum distribution rules. These rules require that you receive payment by one of the following dates.

If you are a 5% owner, the IRS requires that your pension commence no later than the April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which you reach age 70 ½.
If you are not a 5% owner, the IRS requires that you pension commence no later than the April 1 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which you reach 70 ½ or, if later, retire.

If your pension has not begun by the applicable date, you may be assessed a 50% tax penalty on any late required minimum distribution payments. While the Administrative Office will do everything that it can so that you benefit commences prior to the IRS’ Required Beginning Date, it is ultimately your responsibility to make sure that the Administrative Office has your current address on file and to contact the Administrative Office well in advance of your Required Beginning Date so that the payment of your pension will be timely and not subject to IRS penalty taxes.

If you should die after you are vested but prior to receiving a pension benefit, the Survivor’s Pension protects your spouse provided you have been married throughout the year prior to your death.

Your surviving spouse will receive 50% of your earned Regular Pension benefit, adjusted as though you had retired on the day before your death and had elected the Spousal Pension. If you have not attained the age of 55 at the time of your death, the amount payable to your surviving spouse will be determined as if you were age 55 when you died. However, payments to your spouse would be deferred until you would have attained age 55. This benefit is payable for your spouse’s lifetime.