Revamped Guide to Retirement Distribution Options

Retirement can be complicated, particularly figuring out how and when to receive one’s retirement benefit.

To assist your employees to more confidently navigate those decisions, NRECA has developed a brochure, Your Retirement Distribution Options Explained. The brochure includes a chart detailing the four options for receiving benefits that are currently available to participants: lifetime monthly payments, intermittent withdrawals, direct rollover to another qualified account, and single cash payment. (The brochure notes that after January 1, 2019, some cooperatives may opt out of quasi-retirement or the lump sum option and that the co-op will provide a special notice if such a plan change occurs.) The chart also discusses factors participants should consider when choosing a distribution option, including the level of lifetime income protection provided, flexibility for making individual investment choices, tax liability, and exposure to financial risk.

The brochure replaces an older version that was included in retirement distribution option kits. It is intended to be a resource for retirement plan participants during their retirement planning process. The brochure, which is available online, encourages those with questions to reach out to NRECA’s Personal Investment & Retirement Consulting team for assistance. Hard copies of the brochure can be ordered by calling the Member Contact Center at 866.673.2299, or emailing contactcenter@nreca.coop and referencing publication code RMBR18047.