The Pension Boards: Pension Benefits: Glossary

Your Options at Retirement

When the time comes to retire, you can choose from a variety of annuity forms and payment options. This gives you the opportunity to structure your retirement benefit to meet your specific needs.

When You Can Retire
How Your Benefits Are Paid
Annuity Forms

When You Can Retire

Normal retirement age under the Annuity Fund is age 65. If you work beyond that age, pension contributions and investment earnings will continue to be credited to your accounts, resulting in increased annuity benefits.

You may apply for reduced early retirement benefits at any time after you reach age 55. If you are employed in the denomination at the time you wish to take early retirement, you must terminate your full-time employment with your current UCC-related employer before your annuity can begin. However, you may continue to work part-time or in an interim capacity for your current employer, or full-time for any other UCC-related entity.

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How Your Benefits Are Paid

When you retire, you will decide:

At retirement, you choose from several optional forms of annuity payments. They include:

Single Life Annuity
You receive a monthly benefit for your lifetime, and payments stop at your death (if you are married, spousal consent is required for this option).

Joint Life and Survivor Annuity at 66-2/3%
You receive a reduced monthly benefit for your lifetime. If you die before your joint life annuitant, that person receives a monthly benefit for his or her lifetime of 66-2/3% of your benefit amount.

Joint Life and Survivor Annuity at 100%
You receive a reduced monthly benefit for your lifetime. If you die before your joint life annuitant, that person receives a monthly benefit for his or her lifetime equivalent to your benefit amount.

Single Life Annuity With 10-Year Certain
You receive a monthly benefit for your lifetime. If you die before you have received benefits for 120 months (10 years), the remainder of the 120 monthly payments will be paid to your beneficiary. Payments then stop.

Joint Life and Survivor Annuity With 10-Year Certain
You receive a reduced monthly benefit for your lifetime. If you die before your joint life annuitant, that person receives a monthly benefit for his or her lifetime at either 66-2/3% or 100% of your benefit amount. If both you and your joint life annuitant die before a total of 120 monthly annuity payments have been made, the remainder of the 120 payments will be paid to a named beneficiary (at the same percentage paid to your joint life annuitant). Payments then stop.