OPTIONAL FORMS OF RETIREMENT BENEFITS

The standard pension benefits under the Plan are payable to you monthly, upon retirement, for as long as you live. At your death this benefit ceases subject to the provisions of Item 4 in this Section entitled Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity. However, the Plan also provides for an election, by you, of other forms of payment which may continue benefits to a named beneficiary at your death. If you choose one of these options, the monthly benefit is reduced in order to help pay for the continued payments to the survivor. This election must be made by you prior to the time benefit payments start. All elections must comply with the minimum distribution rules of the Internal Revenue Code. The following summarizes both the normal and optional forms of retirement benefits.

LIFE ANNUITY

Retirement benefits are paid for as long as you live. This is the normal form of payment under the Plan. (However, see section 4 below).

JOINT AND LAST SURVIVOR OPTION

You may elect to receive a decreased retirement benefit during your lifetime and have such decreased benefit continue after your death to your designated individual beneficiary for the beneficiary’s lifetime. If your beneficiary is not your spouse and is more than 10 years younger than you, your beneficiary’s benefit as a percentage of your benefit may be limited.

10 YEAR CERTAIN AND LIFE THEREAFTER

You may elect to receive a decreased retirement benefit for as long as you live with 120 monthly payments guaranteed. If, after retiring, you die prior to receiving all 120 monthly payments, the balance of the payments shall be made to your designated beneficiary or to your Estate in the absence of or upon the subsequent death of the designated beneficiary.

QUALIFIED JOINT AND SURVIVOR ANNUITY (MARRIED MEMBERS ONLY)

If you are married when retirement income payments are to begin, your benefit will automatically be reduced and payable as a qualified joint and survivor annuity. In order to elect another form of payment, you must get your spouse’s consent. The spousal consent must be in writing, witnessed by a Notary Public or representative of the Employer, and your spouse must acknowledge the effect of such an election. If you have been married for less than one year when your retirement income payments are to begin, special provisions of the Plan may apply to you. Please contact the Benefits Office for more information. A Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity for Plan purposes means a decreased monthly annuity for your life with a survivor annuity for the life of your spouse which is equal to fifty percent (50%) of the amount of the annuity payable the joint lives of you and your spouse.

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