Watch for Annual Notices on Potential Benefits; Required Minimum Distributions

JOURNAL: ISSUE 2 - 2014

Each year the International Pension Fund (IPF) files detailed information through IRS Form 8955-SSA (Annual Registration Statement Identifying Separated Participants with possible Deferred Vested Benefits) to report on participants separated from service for at least two years and who may have deferred vested benefits with the Fund. The Social Security Administration also mails a Notice of Potential Private Pension Benefit to remind participants of their possible eligibility for deferred vested benefits payable from retirement plans, including the IPF and BACSAVE Retirement Savings Plan (RSP).

RSP participants and beneficiaries are also notified annually of Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs), the minimum amount that must be withdrawn from an account each year. RMDs apply to all Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and Qualified Retirement Plans (QRPs), including the BACSAVE RSP annuity and 401(k) accounts. Initial RMDs must be taken no later than April 1st of the year following the calendar year in which a participant reaches the age of 70 years and 6 months. Subsequent RMDs must be taken by December 31st of each year. The RMD for any year is a portion of the account balance at the end of the calendar year, based on life expectancy tables. Note this example for an individual who recently turned 70½:

Example: If your 70th birthday was June 30, 2013, you turned 70½ on December 30, 2013. You must take your first RMD (for 2013) by April 1, 2014.

For further information regarding these notices, potential vested benefits, RMDs, or any other questions regarding the IPF please contact the Fund office: BAC International Pension Fund; 620 F Street, N.W., Suite 700; Washington DC  20004; 1-888-880-8222 toll-free telephone; or email dstupar@ipfweb.org.