Money is available while you are an active participant as well as upon death, disability, age 59½ or upon termination.
Effective June 1, 2018 Loans are available. Please see the link for more details and contact Empower Retirement to request a loan application.
Active Participant
The Plan is designed to promote long-term savings. However, by allowing withdrawals, the Plan allows you to meet certain financial needs. You may make a withdrawal for financial hardship or upon reaching age 59½.
Simply complete a Request for Hardship Form or Request for Distribution Form and return it to:
Empower Retirement
PO Box 56025
Boston, MA 02205-6025
or upload your document electronically to your Empower account.
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Hardship Qualification
IRS limits hardship withdrawals to amounts that cannot be obtained elsewhere for certain "immediate and heavy" expenses. The following expenses qualify for a hardship withdrawal:
- Purchase of your primary place of residence home
- Uninsured medical expenses incurred or money needed for medical care for you or your dependents
- Payment of tuition, related educational fees and room and board expenses for the next 12 months of post-secondary education for you or your dependents,
- Prevent eviction from your primary place of residence or the foreclosure on the mortgage of your home
- Funeral expenses of parents, spouse, children or dependents
- Certain expenses relating to the repair of damage to the employee's principal residence
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Taxes
Any payment you receive from the Plan is subject to income tax. However, you can avoid having tax withheld by having the payment directly rolled over to another plan or IRA. Depending on your state of residence, state tax may also be withheld from your payment.
In addition to income taxes, there is a 10% excise tax on certain early payments. Please review the "Special Tax Notice"
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Employment Termination
If you have not been employed by a Local 597 contractor for 12 months, complete a Request for Distribution Form. Submit the completed form to Empower Retirement. On this form, you may select one of the options listed below.
- Continued Account. You may elect to continue your account until age 70½. At that time, you must request a distribution from the Plan by completing the Notice of Distribution. The money will remain as invested and you may continue to change investments.
- Direct Rollovers. You may elect to move your vested account balance to a new employer's plan or IRA. Eligible distributions may be rolled over into an IRA, another qualified retirement plan, Code section 403(b) custodial accounts or tax-sheltered annuities or Code section 457(b) governmental plans.
- Cash Payment.
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Age 59 1/2 and Retirement Options
- Cash Payment - a one sum payment equal to the total value of all funds in your account.
- Installment Payments - periodic (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual) payments starting at retirement. You may elect to have payments for a fixed time (e.g., 10 years)) or fixed amount (e.g., $200 monthly).
- Continuation of Account - You may elect to leave your account balance in the Plan until you reach age 70½. At that time, you must elect the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD). The money will remain as invested and you may continue to change your investments.
- Direct Rollovers - You may elect to move your vested account balance to a new employer's plan or an IRA. Eligible distributions may be rolled over into an IRA, another qualified retirement plan, Code section 403(b) custodial accounts or tax-sheltered annuities or Code section 457(b) governmental plans.
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Options Available at Death
Upon your death, the full value of your account will be paid to your spouse or another beneficiary (if your spouse has consented). If no beneficiary is elected, the Plan will pay in this order: A) spouse, B) children, C) parents, D) siblings, E) estate.
Your account can be paid in the form of a one-sum cash payment. Surviving spouses of deceased participants may roll over distributions to their own company plan (e.g. qualified plan, 403(b) annuity or governmental 457 plan) or to an IRA.
A non-spouse beneficiary may continue your account for up to five years after your death. A spouse beneficiary may continue your account up until the year you would have reached age 70½. At that time another option must be elected.
To ensure your monies are correctly paid out at the time of your death, please complete a Beneficiary Designation Form and submit it to the Fund Office.
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