Pension Overview
The Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council Pension Fund (“Plan”) can provide you with a lifetime of income after you retire. Your benefits at retirement may be based on pension credit, a percentage of the contributions you accrue, or a combination of both. In addition to earning pension credit, you also earn years of vesting service.
Who We Serve
The Plan provides retirement benefits for participants and retirees of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council (MACRC). This includes approximately 30,000 participants and 21,000 retirees and beneficiaries receiving pension benefits.
Pension Benefit
For any year in which you work at least 250 hours, your pension benefit for that year will equal the total employer pension contributions made for your work hours, multiplied by 1.25%.
If part of your hourly contribution rate is designated as a Non-Credited Contribution and money is sent into this Plan from another plan or Employer for you, that non-credited portion will be taken off the top of each such contribution, and only the remaining amount will count toward your pension benefit.
Vesting Credit
Years of vesting service are a way to measure your employment with a contributing Employer. Eligibility for most benefits under the Plan is based on your years of vesting service. You need to be vested to be eligible to receive a future benefit.
You generally must have at least five Years of vesting service to be eligible for benefits. You earn one year of vesting service when you work 1,000 hours or more in any calendar year and your employer is signatory to an agreement which requires contributions to the Plan on your behalf. You can only earn one year of vesting service in any calendar year. However, in certain situations, your vesting service record can be adjusted to equal your full years of pension credit.
Breaks in Service / Loss of Credit
Once you are vested, you cannot lose your accrued pension benefit or pension credit. However, before you are vested, it is possible to permanently lose pension credit, vesting credit and your accrued pension benefits if you experience a break in service.
There are two types of breaks in service: temporary breaks in service and permanent breaks in service. Generally, if you have a permanent break in service, you lose your status as a participant under the Plan, including your vesting service, pension credit and accrued pension benefits. A break is considered permanent when you do not have hours reported for five years or more and were not vested in the Plan.
Pension Benefit Options
When you retire, you may be eligible for one of the following types of benefits:
- Regular Pension if you are at least age 65 and you are vested.
- Unreduced Early Retirement Pension if you are age 60 but younger than age 65 and you are vested. Effective July 1, 2026, solely for MACRC benefits earned on or after July 1, 2026, the Unreduced Early Retirement Pension is also available if you are at least age 55 and have earned at least 30 Years of Vesting Service. Benefits earned before July 1, 2026, are not eligible to be paid as an Unreduced Early Retirement Pension until age 60, regardless of Years of Vesting Service.
- Early Retirement Pension if you are at least age 55 but not yet age 60 and you are vested.
- Disability Pension if you meet the Plan’s pension credit and disability requirements.
- Partial Pension if your employment is divided between this Pension Plan and another carpenters’ pension fund under a reciprocal agreement.
The Plan also allows for optional forms of payment where you can receive additional money initially upon retirement or in the months prior to when you begin receiving Social Security benefits. These options are the Partial Lump Sum Benefit Option and the Level Income Option.
In addition, your monthly benefit amount may be reduced if you decide to provide for a lifetime benefit for your spouse. These options are called Joint & Survivor Benefits.
Ready to Retire?
- Request an application from the Retirement Benefits Department.
- Review the application with your spouse (if married).
- Gather the necessary supporting documents.
- You have the option to request a meeting, virtually or in person, with a Retirement Benefits Representative to help you through the process and answer your questions if you like.
- Send your completed application and necessary documents to the Fund Office no later than 90 days before your intended retirement date.
Prohibited Employment
After you retire and begin collecting pension benefits, if you work in prohibited employment, your pension benefit will be suspended, and you are legally required to repay the benefits received during the period of prohibited employment.
Prohibited employment rules changed effective July 1, 2026. Beginning at age 55, participants may work up to 39 hours per month, as well as an additional 1000 hours across a calendar year.
Before reaching age 65, prohibited employment means employment, self-employment, or other business activity in the trade or craft of carpentry or other business activity covered by a collective bargaining agreement or participation agreement in any geographic location.
At or after reaching age 65, until reaching age 70½, prohibited employment means employment, self-employment, or other business activity in the trade or craft of carpentry or other business activity covered by a collective bargaining agreement or participation agreement in any geographic location for 40 hours or more in a month.
After age 70½, no types of employment are prohibited. Disability Pensioners are permitted to engage in non-carpentry employment provided that earnings do not exceed the Social Security Administration’s substantial gainful activity (SGA) earnings limit, as adjusted annually.
If you stop working in prohibited employment and want to resume pension benefits, you must call the Retirement Benefits Department for a reinstatement application.
The completed application must be received by the Retirement Benefits Department at least sixty (60) days before pension payments resume. Your reinstatement will be effective on the first day of the month following the latest of:
- The date you stopped working in prohibited employment; or
- The date the Reinstatement Application is received by the Pension Fund Office.
