The I.B.E.W. Local 697 Defined Contribution Plan was established for the purpose of creating a source of supplemental retirement income for participating employees and participants.
The Plan is administered by a Board of Trustees made up of Union and Employer representatives. These members serve without any compensation and act on behalf of you, your fellow employees, and other participants of the Plan in managing the Fund’s operations. The current list of Trustees is:
Alec J. Davis
Felipe H. Hernandez
Frank Mikolajczyk
Daniel Waldrop
Richard C. Anderson Jr.
Thomas R. Corsiglia
Edward J. Shikany
William J. Walton
The I.B.E.W. Local 697 Defined Contribution Plan is a retirement Plan. A defined contribution (DC) plan is a type of pension plan, and it differs from a defined benefit pension plan in that with the former you are not guaranteed a specific monthly amount. Rather, the amount that is contributed by your employer on your behalf is defined (hence the name) and future benefits fluctuate on the basis of investment earnings.
Because this Plan is a type of pension plan, your access to these monies is very limited until you retire or have a qualifying event as described within the Summary Plan Description Book.
As an “individual account” holder, you get to decide how to invest those employer contributions. Meaning; you decide the amount of money you want to allocate between the number of investment options that the Plan provides. Should you not make an allocation, any employer contributions in your account will be invested into an age-appropriate target date fund for you. Additionally, once your account is funded, you become 100% vested in the Plan.
It should be noted that the maximization of this benefit is dependent upon several factors, such as, but not limited to the employee’s understanding of the rules and provisions of the Plan, hours worked under covered employment, investment elections, earned investment interest, any after-tax contributions made by the participant, the quality of the employee’s retirement planning as well as the participants active and ongoing involvement in all of the above.
Lastly, it is highly recommended that all participants name a beneficiary, periodically review said designation and as appropriate, keep the Plan apprised of any changes in designation or variations in their beneficiary’s contact information.
