What to Do When Retiring

Pension Seminar Fall 2020


Many of our members may be looking toward retirement. A goal of your Financial Secretary is to help our retirees fully understand how to best protect their pension funds once they begin to draw on them in retirement. Your years of careful investment decisions and financial prudence could all go out the window if you do not know how to make your pension funds last throughout your entire retirement.

To help our members gain a better understanding of financially planning for their retirement, Local 26 holds a pension seminar every spring and fall. The seminar is open to all members of the Local and their spouse, but is primarily directed at those nearing retirement. Scheduled in April and October, the seminar features detailed discussions on our Local 26 pension, the International pension and the NEBF pension. 

The following is information on how to apply for the different Pensions, as well as website information: 

Paperwork for the Local 26 pension should be requested from the Local 26 Health and Welfare office at least 3 months prior to your expected retirement date. To receive these forms, please contact Robin Balint at 301-731-1050 or go to www.ewtf.org and www.fidelity.com for information on your Fidelity account. 

Paperwork for the NEBF Pension should be requested directly at the NEBF office at 301-556-4300. Paperwork should be requested at least 6 months prior to your expected retirement date. www.nebf.com 
Notification should be made to the Local 26 Finance Office for the International pension. Please contact Financial Secretary Chris Cash or Vivian Richards at 301-459-2900. Your pension paperwork should be requested from the Local 26 Finance Office 6 months prior to your expected retirement date. www.ibew.org 

Additionally, you should receive a Social Security earnings statement from the federal government, regardless of your age or retirement plans. The statement usually arrives about three months prior to your birthday and will provide you with an up-to-date tally of your Social Security earnings. This statement is especially helpful to those nearing retirement, as it will enable you to know exactly how much money you will receive in Social Security benefits. 

If you have not received your earnings statement, contact the Social Security office by phone, toll-free, at 800-772-1213, or online via www.ssa.gov to request that a statement be sent to you. Also available online via www.ssa.gov is the ability to calculate what your Social Security benefits will be when you retire. From the homepage click “estimate your retirement benefits” and then click on “retirement estimator” and follow the instructions. The information available on this website may be of significant value to you or someone you know who may be nearing retirement. 

A goal of your Financial Secretary is to help our retirees fully understand how to best protect their pension funds once they begin to draw on them in retirement. After all, years of careful investment decisions and financial prudence could all go out the window if you do not know how to make your pension funds last throughout your golden years. 

To help our members gain a better understanding of financial planning for their retirement, Local 26 holds a pension seminar. Now, due to high demand and popularity, we are adding a second retirement seminar. In the past the seminar typically has been held the first Saturday in October. The second and newly added seminar is held on the first Saturday in April. The seminar is open to all members of the Local and their spouse, but is primarily directed at those nearing retirement, ages 55 and up. The seminar features detailed discussions on our Local 26 pension, the International pension and the NEBF pension.