Frequently asked questions

You will become a Participant on the first day of the month following your completion of 1,000 Hours of Service with an Employer in your first 12-consecutive month period of employment or in any Plan Year after the commencement of your Covered Service. The Plan Year is the calendar year.

“Hour of Service” means an hour of work for which you are paid or entitled to payment by an Employer, including certain hours of back pay. 

“Covered Service” means employment with an Employer for which contributions are required to be paid to the LISA Fund on your behalf.

After you earn five years of Vesting Service, you are “Vested”. You earn one year of “Vesting Service” for each Plan Year during which you work at least 1,000 Hours of Service.  Once you are vested, your right to a variable benefit under the LISA Fund cannot be taken away from you. You also can become vested when you reach Normal Retirement Age (age 65).

Yes.  If your Covered Employment is terminated due to a Total and Permanent Disability, you may be eligible for a Disability Pension if you have at least 10 years of Vesting Credit and you were in Covered Service  generally close  to when your disability begins.

Must be eligible for SSA Disability

Monthly Annuity Payments. 

• Single Life Annuity: a monthly payment to you during your lifetime. No payments are made after your death.
• 50% Qualified and Joint and Survivor Annuity:  a reduced lifetime monthly benefit to you and then 50% of that monthly pension benefit to your qualified spouse after your death.
• 75% Joint and Survivor Annuity:  a reduced lifetime monthly benefit to you and then 75% of that monthly pension benefit to your qualified spouse after your death.

Lump Sum Payments.  If the present value of your monthly annuity payments is $7,000 or less, your pension benefits will be paid to you only in a single lump sum payment instead of future monthly pension payments, regardless of your marital status. 

Your pension benefit is calculated based on three main factors:

1.          Annual Credit: The Annual Credit is the rate at which you earn a Fund benefit, based on a percentage of the Employer contributions made on your behalf in a year.

2.         Years of Credited Service: “Credited Future Service” is based on your Covered Service for which contributions to the Trust Fund are payable by an Employer. One full year of Credited Future Service will be given for 1,000 or more Hours of Covered Service.  The longer you work in service credited under the LISA Fund, the higher your potential benefit.

3.           Investment Returns: The LISA Fund’s investment performance plays an important role in determining the value of your monthly benefit. While your benefit is guaranteed for life, it will increase or decrease depending on how the LISA Fund’s investments perform.

At the end of each Plan Year, your pension benefit is adjusted based on the plan’s investment returns. Here’s how it works:

• The plan has a hurdle rate of 5.0%. If the plan’s annual investment returns exactly meet this rate, your monthly benefit remains unchanged.
• If investment returns exceed the hurdle rate, up to a ceiling of 8.0%, your monthly benefit increases for that year. Any returns above 8.0% are directed to the “Stabilization Reserve”, which can be used at the discretion of the Trustees to protect against future downturns and decreases to the total monthly benefits.
• If returns fall below the hurdle rate, your total monthly benefit decreases for that year. However, the Stabilization Reserve can be used at the discretion of the Trustees to cushion against the reductions that apply for that year to limit the amount of any decrease.
• The important thing to remember is that the adjustments are made annually based on investment performance for the prior year and the adjustments are applied to your total monthly benefit calculated through the prior Plan Year.

Your Accrued Benefit for 2025 is equal to your Annual Credit for 2025. In future years, your Accrued Benefit as of the end of the Plan Year is equal to the sum of: (A) your total Accrued Benefit earned as of the end of the immediately preceding Plan Year, multiplied by the applicable Annual Adjustment Rate  and (B) the Annual Credit earned for that year.

There will be no Annual Adjustment Rate applied to your Accrued Benefit in the 2025 Plan Year until the determination of the Annual Adjustment Rate for the Plan Year ending December 31, 2026.  As a result, the Annual Adjustment Rate will be effective for monthly pension payments occurring in the Plan Year beginning January 1, 2027.

Vested participants may begin to receive their full pension benefit upon both retiring from their employer and reaching age 65 or older. Early retirement options are also available starting at age 55, but will result in a reduction in your monthly pension benefit to reflect that the payment of your monthly benefit will be made over a longer period of time.  These payments generally do not start automatically.  Except for small lump sum payments, you must fill out an application and submit required documentation to receive benefits.

In order to be considered “retired” and to start your pension benefit, you must leave any employment with the Employer for at least 60 days. Once that occurs, you can later return to employment and your pension benefits will continue.

Upon retirement, you may elect an option that provides your surviving spouse a portion of your monthly pension benefit. Because the spouse annuity guarantees pension benefits for two (2) lifetimes, the amount you receive each month will be reduced to cover the longer payment period. The amount of this reduction depends on the amount of surviving benefit you select and the age difference between you and your spouse.

If you pass away before retirement and you are vested, your spouse will be eligible for a reduced pension benefit as soon as you would have been eligible to receive pension payments.

Yes, you must begin receiving it when federal law requires that benefits commence, usually age 72 or later.