FAQ

The Teamsters Local 676 and Employers Annuity Plan is a multi-employer retirement savings plan for eligible employees of employers that have agreed to participate in the Plan (“Employers”). The Plan is the product of collective bargaining between Teamsters Local Union 676 and these Employers.
The Plan is designed to supplement the retirement income that you may enjoy from other sources (for example, Social Security, your own savings, etc.). As with other qualified retirement plans, this Plan will provide a way to accumulate retirement income without paying certain federal income taxes until the time that you retire or otherwise receive a benefit from the Plan.
The Plan is a “defined contribution plan.” Under this type of plan, each Participant has his own bookkeeping Account, which will keep track of contributions, investment experience (income, gains and losses), and expenses attributable to the Account. Upon a distribution of benefits from the Plan, each participant or his designated beneficiary will receive the Account balance in one of several possible forms.
Unlike “defined benefit plans,” this Plan does not guarantee a Participant a certain benefit, monthly or otherwise, upon retirement. Moreover, a Participant’s benefit is not insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the “PBGC”) or any other entity. Your benefit under the Plan at any given time is the value of your Account balance at that time.

The Plan is funded by contributions which Employers make for their employees in the amounts required by the Collective Bargaining Agreements they have with Teamsters Local Union 676. Participants do not make contributions to the Plan, except that in certain circumstances they can roll over money from another tax-qualified retirement plan into this Plan.

You will be vested at all times in your Account balance. You cannot forfeit your Account, even if you no longer work for any participating Employer.

You are eligible to participate in the Plan if you work in “covered employment.” Covered employment is work by an employee in a job classification for which a Collective Bargaining Agreement between Teamsters Local Union 676 and an Employer requires contributions to the Plan.
If you move from covered employment to other employment with a participating Employer, you will become an inactive participant in this Plan. Your Account will still share in Plan investment income, gains
and losses, and Plan expenses, until such time as you receive benefits from the Plan after you separate from employment with all participating Employers because of retirement, termination, etc. (See Q&A 9).

Your Employer contributes to your Account in accordance with the terms of your Collective Bargaining Agreement. You should review your Collective Bargaining Agreement to see what amount of Employer contributions you are entitled to each month.
You cannot make your own contributions to the Plan, except that in certain circumstances described in Q&A 12, you can “roll over” money from other tax-qualified retirement plans to your Account.
Importantly, Employer and rollover contributions to your Account are not subject to federal income tax until you receive benefits from the Plan.

This plan is intended to be what is known as an “ERISA Section 404(c) Plan.” This means that you will invest your own Account as you see fit from the range of investment choices offered by the Plan. You will make all final decisions regarding the funds in which to invest the money in your Account. Upon retirement, you will receive a distribution of the amount credited to your Account. Consequently, you will bear the risk of loss should these investments lose money. Thus, you should select your investments carefully.
The investment choices offered under the Plan will be selected by the Board of Trustees, in consultation with the professional advisors to the Plan, from an array of mutual funds and/or other investments. The investment choices will provide you with a variety of options ranging from historically high-risk, high-return investments to historically low-risk, low-return investments. That way, you can better choose the level of risk and return that you want for your own retirement savings.
To allow you to make your own investment choices, the Plan will send you information on how to use the Plan’s website and toll-free telephone number, and information about the investment options that you have. A “prospectus,” or more detailed report on each investment choice, is also available from the Plan Office upon request, or on the Plan website.
You then can make your initial investment selections, and changes to those selections, at any time via the toll-free telephone number or the Plan’s website. The toll-free telephone service and web-site access will be available to you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year (except for periodic updates). By calling this number or visiting the website pages, you will also be able to learn the current status of your Account.

If you do not make your own investment selections, then any money in your Account will be invested in a default balanced lifestyle fund available through the Plan, or in such other investment which the Board of Trustees deem prudent.

You are automatically 100% vested at all times in your Account balance. In other words, your Account balance is not forfeitable, even if you stop working for all participating Employers.

1. Normal Retirement. You separate from employment with all participating Employers by reason of retirement after reaching age 65.
2. Early Retirement. You separate from employment with all participating Employers by reason of retirement after one of the following: (1) you reach age 55; (2) you reach 30 years of bargaining unit membership with teamsters Local Union 676; or (3) you reach 30 years of participation in the Plan.
3. Disability Retirement. You separate from employment with all participating Employers by reason of retirement because of a physical or mental condition of such severity and duration that a return to covered employment is unlikely. The Board of Trustees, in its sole discretion after considering relevant medical evidence, makes all disability determinations under the Plan.
4. Termination. You separate from employment with all participating Employers for any reason, and for at least 12 months (1) you receive no Employer contributions to your Account; (2) you are not otherwise employed within the jurisdiction of Teamsters Local Union 676; and (3) you are not available for, nor have you sought, work within the jurisdiction of Teamsters Local Union 676.
5. Age 70 ½. You must begin receiving benefits from your Account if you reach age 70 ½ and you are no longer working for a participating Employer.

Contributions and earnings for work performed through December 31, 2013. Most Participants choose to receive their benefits, derived from contributions and earnings for work performed through December 31, 2013, in the form of a single lump sum. However, because prior to January 1, 2014, the Plan was a pension plan, and not a profit-sharing plan, the law requires that a Participant (and his spouse if he’s married) take certain steps before the Plan can pay benefits in a form other than a monthly annuity.
If you are single when you apply for benefits from your Account and you do not elect another form of benefit, the Plan must convert your Account balance to a single life annuity. A single life annuity is a set monthly benefit payable to you for your lifetime. At your request when you apply for benefits, the Plan Office will obtain one or more quotes from one or more insurance companies on what single life annuity your Account balance will buy based on interest assumptions (what money will make in the future) and
mortality assumptions (how long you are likely to live). A single Participant must waive a single life annuity if he wants to receive his Account in a single lump sum or in installment payments.
If you are married when you apply for benefits from your Account and you and your spouse do not elect another form of benefit, the Plan must convert your Account balance to a joint and 50% survivor annuity (a J&S Annuity). A J&S annuity is a set monthly benefit payable to you for your lifetime, and a set monthly benefit payable to your spouse if she survives you that is equal to 50% of the benefit you received during your lifetime. At your request when you apply for benefits, the Plan Office will obtain one or more quotes from one or more insurance companies on what J&S annuity your Account balance will buy based on interest and mortality assumptions for both you and your spouse.
You and your spouse also can elect to use your Account to purchase a J&S annuity with a larger surviving spouse benefit (up to a maximum of 100% of what you will receive during your lifetime).
You and your spouse may elect to waive the J&S annuity in favor of a single lump sum, a single life annuity for your life only, or installment payments. Such an election will be effective only if: (a) your spouse consents to the election; (b) the election is in writing; (c) the election designates a form of payment which cannot be changed without your spouse’s consent; (d) your spouse’s consent acknowledges the effect of the election; and (e) the election is witnessed by a representative of the Plan or a notary public. The election to waive a J&S annuity generally must be made not less than 30 and no more than 180 calendar days before the date on which benefits will be paid.
You (and your spouse if you are married) may elect to take your Account balance in the form of installment payments. You should contact the Plan Office if you are interested in such installments.
Contributions and earnings for work performed on and after January 1, 2014. Effective January 1, 2014, the Plan was changed from a money purchase pension plan to a profit-sharing plan. As a result, the only form of benefit available to you, with respect to your contributions and earnings for work performed on and after January 1, 2014, is a single lump sum.

If you are married and you die before you begin to receive benefits from your Account, then the Plan will pay your Account balance to your surviving spouse in the form of a single lump sum, a single life annuity (based on your spouse’s expected lifetime), or installment payments.
If you are single when you die, the Plan will pay your Account balance to your designated beneficiary in the form of either a single lump sum, a single life annuity (based on your designated beneficiary’s expected lifetime), or installment payments.

Yes, if certain conditions are met.
Upon a single lump sum distribution for normal, early, or disability retirement, or upon termination of employment with all participating Employers, the Plan will make a direct rollover of part or all of your Account balance to an eligible retirement plan at your election (or, upon your death, at your spouse’s election). A “direct rollover” means that the Plan will distribute part or all of your Account balance to another “eligible retirement plan,” rather than pay this amount to you.
An “eligible retirement plan” for a Participant or his or her surviving spouse means that person’s traditional Individual Retirement Account (or IRA) – but not a “Roth IRA;” a traditional IRA annuity; an annuity plan described in section 403(a) or section 403(b) of the Tax Code that accepts direct rollovers; a plan described in section 457(b) of the Tax Code that accepts rollovers; or another tax-qualified retirement plan like this Plan that accepts direct rollovers.
If you elect a single lump sum distribution and would like to roll part or all of it over, you must indicate this on your distribution forms available from the Plan Office. If you do not request a direct rollover, then the Plan is required by law to withhold 20% of the distribution and remit this amount to the Internal Revenue Service. If this is done, you still can qualify for favorable tax treatment on the 80% net distribution if you roll over this amount to an eligible retirement plan within 60 days of that distribution. In addition, if you want to avoid being taxed on the 20% withheld by the Plan, you will have to include in your rollover an amount of cash equal to the 20% withheld by the Plan, and request a refund of the 20% withheld on your next tax return.
If you do not roll over part or all of a single lump sum distribution of your Account balance, then the portion of your distribution that was not rolled over will be subject to federal income tax (and state and local income taxes, if applicable). Moreover, you may have to pay an additional 10% federal excise tax on your distribution.

If you want to apply for benefits, please contact the Plan Office for an application at (856) 382-2495 Option 2.

The Board of Trustees reserves the right to itself the power to amend, modify, or terminate the Plan. If the Plan terminates, the Board of Trustees will liquidate its assets and, after payment of all outstanding expenses, distribute those assets to Participants in accordance with the terms of the Plan.

Once you stop working for a participating Employer in covered employment, and thus no longer receive Employer contributions to your Account, you become an inactive Participant in the Plan. As an inactive participant, you may (a) apply for Plan benefits if you qualify for a distribution of your Account
(See Q&A 9); or (b)maintain your Account in the Plan and continue to receive your share of Plan investment income, gains and losses, and Plan expenses.
You cannot keep your Account balance in the Plan indefinitely. The Tax Code requires that Participants who reach age 70 ½ and who have stopped working for participating Employers must start receiving their benefits. Such “70 ½” distributions cannot be rolled over (See Q&A 12).

If a domestic relations order is entered by a state court in your divorce proceedings, which requires that your divorced spouse be given an interest in your Account balance, and that order is found to be “qualified” by the Plan, then your spouse will have rights to some or all of your Account balance in accordance with that order. In this regard, the Plan has developed Qualified Domestic Relations Order Procedures which are available at no charge from the Plan Office.

The Board of Trustees administers the Plan, with equal voting power shared between the Trustees appointed by Teamsters Local Union 676 and the Trustees appointed by Employers participating in the Plan.
It is the Board of Trustees’ responsibility, in consultation with any professional advisors it hires (accountants, administrators, attorneys, investment advisors, etc.), to ensure that this Plan is operated in the best interests of Participants and their beneficiaries.
The Plan updates the value of each Participant Account on a daily basis.

If your claim for benefits from the Plan is denied in whole or in part, you will receive written notification from the Plan Office of the denial within 90 days, or 180 days if the Plan notifies you of a need for an extension. For disability claims, the Plan will notify you within 45 days of a denial with up to two 30-day extensions with proper advance notice.
The denial will explain the reason for the denial; it will cite the relevant Plan provisions on which the denial is based; it will tell you what you need to do to correct your claim (for example, what further information you could provide which might change the decision), and why such information is needed; it will tell you how to file a claim appeal with the Board of Trustees; and it will tell you of your right to bring an action under section 502(a) of ERISA following such an appeal.