When Can I
Get My SIS Pension Fund Money?
You become eligible for
benefits from the SIS Pension Plan you retire or if you become totally and
permanently disabled or when you separate from employment. As required by the Internal Revenue Code, you
must be separated from employment with an employer that makes contributions to the
SIS Pension Plan in order to receive a distribution from the Plan.
Retirement
To be considered “retired”
before age 65, you have to be receiving your NASI Pension Fund pension benefit. If you are not a Sprinkler Fitter, but you
have a defined benefit pension similar to the NASI Pension Fund with your home
local, you may qualify for a retirement benefit once you begin to receive
benefits from that Plan. An example of a
person who “retires” as of April 1st of a year can expect to receive
money from the SIS Pension Plan in early May.
You can be considered
retired once you reach age 65 and you completely withdraw from work in the
Sprinkler Industry.
Total and
Permanent Disability
Your Individual Account is
payable as a Disability Benefit at any age if you are totally and permanently
disabled. You are totally and
permanently disabled if you are completely unable to engage in Covered
Employment and it is reasonably certain that your condition will continue for
your remaining lifetime.
In order to receive a
Disability Benefit, you must apply for it, and provide proof of your total and
permanent disability. The evidence of
your disability which may be submitted includes proof of your entitlement to
Social Security Disability Benefits or medical reports sufficiently detailed
for the Trustees to determine whether you are totally and permanently disabled.
If you are so disabled that
you are also entitled to disability benefits from
Social Security, you may
also be entitled to a Disability
Pension from the NASI Pension Fund.
Separation
from Employment
General Rule
You qualify for a Separation
from Employment benefit 12 months after you leave the piping industry.
Rule regarding contributions received before 1996
The General Rule noted above
is good for your whole account; even contributions on work you performed before
1996. However, in addition, even if you
don’t meet the General Rule definition, you can receive a Separation from
Employment benefit of the part of your account that was from contributions for
work before 1996 two years after the year you stopped working for an employer
that made contributions to the SIS Pension Plan on behalf of any of its
employees.
Partial Distributions
If you choose to receive
only a portion of your SIS Pension Fund account when you elect to receive a
Separation from Employment provision of the Plan, you cannot apply for an
additional withdrawal under this provision of the Plan during the 12 months
after you receive a distribution.
Internal Links
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