The worker must be at least age 55 with 10 or more years vesting credit (age 40 for Disability Retirement) or age 62 with 5 or more years of vesting credit.

Yes, a worker receives approximately 54.40% of his/her benefit should he/she decide to receive it early at age 55 instead of waiting to age 62. However, if he/she is going to retire anyway, it might not be wise for him/her to wait until he/she is 62.

The worker can start his/her benefit any month after he/she becomes age 55, provided he/she meets the other requirements. He/She can start it on his/her anniversary date, on his/her birth date, or at any time that he/she decides to retire. The amount of his/her benefits is reduced depending on the number of months that he/she receives his/her benefits before he/she is age 62.

The worker must be able to show that he/she is no longer working in the Trucking industry. For Disability Retirement, the worker must show proof that his/her total and permanent disability occurred before he/she has a Break in Service.

Yes. For a current worker who is working until age 62 and does not have the 5 years of service, the Plan will allow them to retire with the years of service that they have.

The amount of the benefit is figured on the amount of Credited Service that an Employee has. Basically, this means you will have to work a total of 1,500 hours per plan year (April-March) to receive one (1) year of credited service. Then, the number of credited years are multiplied by the benefit rate (rate varies depending on the contribution rate paid by the employer), to arrive at your total monthly benefit at age 62. If you should retire before 62, this amount is then reduced by a factor for the number of months for which you will receive benefits before age 62.

Yes. The Plan will forward your checks to most address in the world. Changes must be made in writing. You should know that if you are not a U.S. citizen, the IRS requires us to withhold 30% of your pension for withholding taxes, which may be subject to a refund when you file a tax return with the IRS.

The pension processing takes about 3 to 6 months because of how the employer reports the hours you work. The Trust Fund Office must receive all the hours worked before they start calculating your pension benefit. Ex: If your retirement date is January, your hours for December are not reported until the end of February. The earliest the Trust Fund Office can start processing your application is March. This means that you have to wait for 3 months before your pension is finalized. Therefore, it normally takes about 3 to 6 months to process a pension application.

The Plan has a 6 month retroactive limitation on benefits. Therefore, the sooner a person files for pension after leaving employment, the less chance of losing benefits. This is especially important if you are applying for Disability Retirement.

Under the law (ERISA), we are required to provide a spouse option. The only way we can provide these options is to have positive proof of birth; therefore, we would require a birth certificate for the worker and spouse and their marriage certificate to show that you are legally married.

Yes. The Plan allows you to have a contingent annuitant. This means that you may leave a portion of your pension benefits to anyone of your choice*. However, you should note that the younger your contingent annuitant, the smaller your monthly benefits. This is because the Plan would now insure two (2) lives. Normally, most people choose their spouse as the contingent annuitant. *Age restrictions apply to a non-spouse beneficiary and your spouse must consent to the following option.

There are four different kinds of death benefits:

1. Eligible Spouse Death Benefit before retirement: Under this arrangement, if you are vested, have been married for at least one year at the time of death and die prior to retirement, your surviving spouse will receive a Pre-Retirement Death Benefit from the Plan.
2. Lump Sum Death Benefit: If you are not covered by the Eligible Spouse Death Benefit, you are vested, but you die before retirement, your beneficiary will receive a death benefit equal to the lesser of (a) 50% of the total amount of Employer Contributions made on your behalf, or (b) $6,500.00.
3. Post-Retirement Death Benefit: If you die after you have begun to receive retirement benefits and are not covered by any option which provides a benefit to a surviving beneficiary, then your Beneficiary will receive a sum equal to the excess of what would have been provided under (b) above (as if your death occurred immediately before the effective date of your retirement) over the sum of the payments made to you after retirement.
4. Survivor Benefit (Minor children under age 18, or surviving spouse under age 62): If you die before retirement, or after retirement but before age 65, and you meet certain service and requirements, a Survivor Benefit will be paid to your surviving minor children which total $333.50 monthly. If there are no minor children and your surviving spouse is under age 62, your spouse will receive $167.00 monthly until age 62.

The money will stay in the Pension Plan.

The worker should contact Trust Fund Office to find out if he/she is vested in the pension plan before applying for retirement. If you are vested, about one (1) month before you plan to retire, you should call the Trust Fund Office to see what is required to apply for your benefits. This will give you time to prepare for the documents that are needed.

- You may not have received your monthly pension benefit for the following reasons:

• You may have changed your address or bank account information and did not update your records with the Trust Fund Office. Should you change address, all changes must be made in writing. Should you change banks, please contact the Trust Fund Office for a new Direct Deposit Authorization Form so we are able to transmit your benefit accordingly.
• You did not submit your Annual Affidavit Form. Please remember that on a yearly basis this form will need to be completed in a timely fashion. Should the Annual Affidavit Form not be submitted to the Trust Fund Office by the April 15th deadline, your benefit will be suspended on May 1st. Once the Annual Affidavit is received, your benefit will be reinstated.

- Contact BRMS to obtain the answers to questions such as:

• Retirement;
• Change of Address;
• Change your beneficiary;
• Changed Financial Institutions;
• Other inquiries
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• Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm

- After office hours, you have the option of sending an email to hiteamstersinfo@brmsonline.com and a representative will respond to your inquiry the next business day.

- Benefit and Risk Management Services (BRMS) is the Trust Administrator for the Hawaii Truckers – Teamsters Union Pension Plan. BRMS is a leading benefit administrator and healthcare risk manager that deliver innovative technology and administration that control rising healthcare costs. We have an experienced staff in our Health & Welfare and Pension departments ready to assist you with your every need.

- The Trust Fund Office has two locations to better server you:

Ample free parking in the front of the building. Once in the building take the stairs / elevator to the second floor and walk towards the stage area and follow the BRMS signs.

• Office Hours → Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM
• Phone Number → 523-0199
• Satellite Office → 842-0392
• Neighbor Islands → (866) 772-8989