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Defined Benefit Plan

Benefit payment options 

The Episcopal Church Lay Employees' Retirement Plan

Under this plan, employees have four options for receiving benefit payments:

Joint Retirement Benefit Option

At the time of retirement, a plan participant may choose to reduce the benefit to provide a surviving spouse or second adult beneficiary with a continuing benefit of 50%, 66-2/3%, 75% or 100% of the pension, should the employee die first.

The employee and spouse also spouse may waive this option in favor of a certain and continuous or Social Security adjustment option.

  • Married retirees who have not chosen another form of benefit, will receive benefits based on the option under which their spouses receive 50% of the benefit after their deaths.
  • Unmarried retirees who have not chosen another payment option will receive an unreduced monthly benefit for life.

Certain and Continuous Option

Participants may choose to receive a benefit for a minimum of 5, 10 or 15 years. If they live longer, the benefit continues for life.

  • If a participant dies during the period of time he or she has chosen to receive this benefit, the remaining benefit will be paid to a beneficiary.
  • If both the participant and beneficiary die during the payment period, the actuarially determined value of the remaining payments will be paid to a secondary beneficiary or, if there is no secondary beneficiary, to the estate

Social Security Adjustment Option

Participants who retire before beginning to collect Social Security benefits may increase the monthly pension benefit from the day of retirement until the day Social Security benefits begin, when monthly pension benefits will be reduced. Then the combined total of Social Security and pension benefits remains a constant amount. Under this option, benefit payments end at death.

Lump Sum Payment

If the monthly benefit is less than $50 or the present value of the total benefit is $5,000 or less, participants may receive a lump sum payment when they retire.

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