Apply for Retirement Benefits

Retirement just ahead!

When you fill out the Application for Benefits, you will need to select a retirement payment option. Here is an explanation of each type:

Your pension benefits are taxable as ordinary income. If you do not complete a W-4P tax withholding certificate (Form 2), federal income tax will be withheld from your benefit based on Single or Married filing separately, the minimum required by federal law. Depending on the amount of your benefit, this may not withhold anything for federal income tax.

If you have questions concerning the amount of tax which should be withheld, please consult a tax professional. Our office does not provide tax advice.

You must separate from service before retirement payments can begin. This means you must terminate employment with your most recent contributing employer(s). Your “most recent contributing employer” includes all employers for whom you have worked in the six-month period preceding your retirement date. “Employer” includes all trades or businesses (whether or not incorporated) that are members of a controlled group or under common control.

If you return to work for your most recent contributing employer(s) within six months of the date you terminate, the Trustees will presume that you did not properly separate from service. In that case, your retirement will be canceled and you will owe back any benefits received plus interest. Your employer must complete the Employer Certificate certifying that you have separated from service. If you have questions about whether an employer is a member of a commonly controlled group with another employer, call the Pension Trust Office for information. Your Retirement Date cannot be established any earlier than the first of the month following your termination of employment.

The Pension Trust offers electronic direct deposit to all retirees. This guarantees that your pension benefit will be in your bank account no later than the first business day of the month. If the 1st of the month falls on a weekend or holiday, your funds will be in the bank on the next business day. In the event you wish to sign up for direct deposit, please complete the enclosed Direct Deposit Authorization form. We encourage all retirees to consider direct deposit.

You cannot work 40 or more hours per payroll month in Suspendible Employment while you receive a monthly retirement benefit. In order to document that you are not or will not be working in Suspendible Employment, you must complete Form 6. Suspendible Employment is employment in all three of the following:

Suspendible Employment also includes employment (meeting the above conditions) in a supervisory or self-employed capacity, union or non-union. (Some exemptions may apply if all or part of your retirement benefit was earned prior to July 1, 1990; please contact the Pension Trust Office for details.)

We do not provide oral determinations on whether certain employment is Suspendible Employment; however, you may request a written determination at any time. If you have more than one employer for which you need a determination, you must complete a determination form (Form 7) for each employer. Contact the Pension Trust Office for additional forms.

Complete this form only if you select the “Five-Year Certain Life Annuity Option” and only if you want your death benefits paid in an order other than the Plan’s class basis listed on the form. Read this form carefully and mark the applicable box for the method of payment to any beneficiaries you list.

Complete this Medicare Eligible Retiree enrollment form only if you are eligible for Medicare, meet the retiree eligibility requirements of the Alaska Teamster-Employer Welfare Trust and plan to enroll as a retiree in the Benistar health plan.

You must enroll within 31 days of when your active or COBRA eligibility under the Alaska Teamster-Employer Welfare Plan ends.

If you elect to enroll in the Benistar Plan, Benistar will contact you directly regarding your benefit booklets and ID cards. Please submit a copy of your Medicare ID card along with your completed Medicare Eligible Retiree enrollment form.

IMPORTANT: If you are a retiree under age 65 and non-Medicare eligible, you can enroll in the Benistar health plan once you attain age 65 provided you have 40,000 hours under the Alaska Teamster-Employer Welfare Trust. You cannot defer enrollment into Benistar after age 65.

Please Note: Effective 7/1/2014, if your active coverage was provided through a Composite Flat Rate, and you have a Dollars Bank account at the time of your retirement, your coverage will be deducted from your Dollars Bank based on the Composite Flat Rate amount. The Retiree coverage will commence once you have exhausted your Dollars Bank account, provided you complete and return, if applicable, the Medicare Eligible Retiree enrollment form (Medical Self-Payment Billing Form).

Please refer to the Alaska Teamster-Employer Welfare Plan’s Summary Plan Description (SPD) for full details.

The Welfare Trust is a separate entity from the Pension Trust. Retirement through the Alaska Teamster-Employer Pension Trust does not provide automatic retiree health benefits.

All documents necessary for retirement should be submitted no later than 90 days after the date you (and your spouse, if married) have signed the retirement application. The Pension Trust Office will process your first retirement payment once all required documents are submitted and final work hours are reported. Please remember to provide the Pension Trust Office with a current mailing address. In addition to completing the necessary forms, you may also need to provide:

You may elect to start your retirement benefit on the first day of any month after you have separated (terminated) from service with your employer. To receive benefits, you and your spouse (if married) must submit a signed, notarized Application for Benefits.

Your Effective Retirement Date can be retroactive up to three months before the date the completed, signed and notarized application is received by the Alaska Teamster-Employer Pension Trust, but cannot be earlier than the date you separate (terminate) from service with your covered employer(s), or earlier than the date you cease working in Covered or Suspendible Employment. If you request an Effective Retirement Date more than three months before submitting your complete, signed and notarized application, your Effective Retirement Date will be adjusted to the next permitted retirement date.

For example, if you terminate employment in January, don’t file an application right away and want your retirement benefit to begin February 1st, your application must be received no later than May 1st. If the application is received May 2nd, then your retirement benefit would begin March 1st.

You cannot work in Suspendible Employment for 40 or more hours during any payroll month you receive a retirement benefit.

Retirement benefit payments are made on the first day of the month. For example, your benefit payment for January is made January 1st.

If your first monthly retirement payment is not processed and paid on your Effective Retirement Date, benefits will be paid retroactive to your Effective Retirement Date. Typically, your initial retirement benefit will be for a two-month period. This allows your employer time to report your final hours which are to be included in your final benefit calculation.

For example, if you work into or through the month of January, and your Effective Retirement Date has been established as February 1st, you will receive your first benefit check March 1st retroactive to February 1st (for two months).

You will receive a benefit award letter stating what your final benefit amount is. These letters are mailed out on the first of the month, or the first business day following the first of the month, that you begin receiving your benefit.

The retirement checks are mailed the last week of each month for the next month. For example, February checks are mailed approximately January 26th.

If you have your benefit directly deposited, it will be in your account no later than the first working day of the month. The Alaska Teamster-Employer Pension Trust encourages everyone to consider direct deposit.

If your Joint Annuitant dies within the first 12 months of your retirement date, your benefit will increase as if you had selected a life annuity.

If your Joint Annuitant dies after the first 12 months of your retirement, your option and the amount you receive does not change. However, if you later remarry and wish to substitute your new spouse as your Joint Annuitant, you may apply to do so. Your benefit will be actuarially adjusted to account for the amount of time you have been retired and the age difference for you and your new spouse. In all cases, the change will result in a lower benefit to you.

In certain situations, you may change the benefit option you elected at retirement. If you request the change within 90 days of your initial retirement date, there is no waiting period or specific qualification for the change. To change your option, you would be required to complete another Application for Benefits form.

Once you are retired more than 90 days, from your retirement date, you must meet certain requirements to change your option. There is a two-year qualification period for these changes to become permanently effective. For additional details, contact the Pension Trust Office.

If you receive your retirement check by mail and your check is lost or delivery is delayed, call the Pension Trust Office. However, please be advised that we must wait a minimum of ten working days after the 1st of the month to request a replacement check as mail delays (especially during holidays) are not uncommon. If you request a replacement check, a stop payment will be placed on the original check and within one to three days a replacement check will be sent. Once a stop payment is initiated, that order cannot be reversed. If you later receive the original check, you must return it and await the arrival of the replacement check. We encourage you to utilize direct deposit to avoid any delays in receiving your benefit.

If you wish to change your mailing address, have more or less withheld for federal income tax or start having your checks electronically deposited or deposited to a different bank account, contact the Pension Trust Office in Anchorage.

The Pension Trust Office may periodically request that you provide information concerning your employment (if any) after retirement, so they can determine whether you are working in Suspendible Employment and if so, that you are not exceeding the number of hours allowed to remain a retired participant. If you do not respond to this request, your pension benefit will be withheld until you provide the requested information.

If you return to work in covered or Suspendible Employment (as described on pages 13, 23 and 24 of the Summary Plan Description) and work 40 or more hours in a payroll month, your pension benefit may be suspended until you again retire. You will forfeit your right to that suspended benefit for those months that you worked 40 or more hours in a payroll month.

It is your responsibility to notify the Pension Trust Office when you return to work; taking a dispatch through the Union does not notify the Pension Trust Office. If you received a benefit for any months in which you worked 40 or more hours in a payroll month, you will owe those benefits back to the Pension Trust plus interest.

You must contact the Pension Trust Office in order to resume your benefit once you terminate employment again. Our office will send you the required documents for completion upon notification from you.

Please note, you must receive one initial retirement check before returning to work after your initial retirement. If you work 40 or more hours in Suspendible Employment in the same payroll month for which your first retirement check was paid, your retirement will be canceled.

If you return to covered employment the additional benefits earned during your re-employment period are payable at age 65. You may choose a different form of payment for the additional benefits you earned during your re-employment, but you cannot change the form of payment of your original retirement benefit.

When you retire for the second time, you can resume your first retirement benefit in the same form of payment you elected when you initially retired. This resumption is not automatic; you must notify our office of your desire to resume your benefit. Upon notification, we will forward the documents necessary to accomplish your resumption of benefits.

Your Pension and Welfare Trusts are entities separate from your Union, Teamsters Local 959. The information provided here is to remind you to contact them regarding your membership in the Union.

There is no requirement that you continue paying your union dues in order to receive your pension benefit. The two are not related in any way.

It is important that you contact the Local 959 Dues Office regarding your Union membership upon your retirement. If you decide not to continue paying your union dues, they recommend that you take a withdrawal rather than letting your status go suspended by not paying. If there is any chance you may want to return to work as a Teamster, the only way to retain your start date with the Union is to continue paying your monthly union dues. There are reduced dues rates for retirees. You may contact Local 959 directly at 907-751-8581 or 800-478-0959 (toll free).

If you continue your membership with Teamsters Local 959, you will receive the newsletter “Alaska Teamster”. Your retirement will be announced in that newsletter. Again, remember to keep your mailing address current with Local 959.

If you worked under contracts that participated in the Western Conference of Teamsters (WCOT) Pension Plan and you vested under that plan, you must contact WCOT at: 2323 Eastlake Avenue East, Seattle, Washington 98102-3392 or call toll free 1-800-531-1489. Their staff will deal with you directly on any benefits you may have under that plan.

The WCOT is a completely separate pension plan and is not administered by our office.