St. Louis Pension
Not necessarily. Effective July 1, 2013, when you start an Early Retirement Benefit, you need to stop working in order to receive full benefit immediately if you earned pension credit after this date. This rule does not apply at all to the accrued benefit you earned through June 30, 2013. Therefore, if you plan to retire and continue working, you must declare your intentions at retirement. See below for details.
The Early Retirement Benefit you can receive without restriction (based on your accrued benefit through June 30, 2013) is referred to as your grandfathered early benefit. You can begin your grandfathered early benefit even if you continue to work.
The remainder of your Early Retirement Benefit is your non-grandfathered early benefit. In order to start your non-grandfathered early benefit, you must declare that you are retiring with no present intention to return to Covered Employment before age 62. If you continue working in Covered Employment after commencement of your grandfathered early benefit, your non-grandfathered early benefit will be deferred and you will receive a payment of interest for the period that it is delayed.
It is important to note that if you stop working and begin receiving full payment for all Early Retirement Benefits, benefits earned after July 1, 2013 up to your Early Retirement Date would subsequently be suspended if you later return to work in Covered Employment prior to age 62.
More information on starting your Pension benefits
Kansas City Pension
If you return to disqualifying employment after you have retired and begun to receive your pension, your monthly benefit will be withheld, or suspended for each month that you are employed.
Work that will disqualify a retiree from receiving the monthly benefit differs for those less than normal retirement age (generally age 65) and those age 65 and older. For benefits earned on and after November 1, 1999, and prior to age 65, disqualifying employment is any employment or self-employment as follows:
- for wages or profit in any type of work covered by the collective bargaining agreement,
- in the construction industry, or
- for a contributing employer.
At or after age 65, disqualifying employment is work as a carpenter, or in another job classification covered by the Plan within the industry and geographical area covered by the Plan when pension payments began.
On and after age 65, a pensioner will be allowed to perform a limited amount of this type of work before it is considered disqualifying. The pensioner may work for up to 400 hours in during a calendar year (and then up to 39 hours per month) in disqualifying employment without being disqualified from receiving a monthly benefit. In applying the above rules, all paid hours are counted, including paid non-work hours.
Special Rules for those that Return to Work for a Contributing Employer
For Retirees between the ages of 55 and 64:
If you have retired after a bona fide separation from employment with a Contributing Employer and subsequently return to work for the same or a different Contributing Employer, your monthly pension benefit will NOT be suspended if your new position is in a job classification outside of the scope of work historically and traditionally performed by participants of this Plan under a Collective Bargaining Agreement or work performed under any written agreement requiring contributions to the Plan. Examples of classifications exempt from suspension would generally include Superintendent, Estimator, Sales Representative, Training Officer, and Safety Officer . Please note, however, that you will not accrue any additional benefits in the Plan based on the work performed.
For Retirees on or after age 65:
If you retire and subsequently return to work in any position for a Contributing Employer after age 65, there are no restrictions on your ability to work for a Contributing Employer, regardless of the type of work performed. Your monthly benefit will not be suspended. And if you perform work in covered employment under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, you will be entitled to earn additional benefit accruals based on such work.
