On September 4, 2020, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation took responsibility as trustee for the defined benefit pension plan sponsored by The McClatchy Company. The McClatchy Company Retirement Plan ended as of August 31, 2020. The plan covers more than 24,000 workers and retirees.
For participants who received their first payment from PBGC on January 1, 2021, the letter you received included a Form 701 – Payee Information. That letter outlined the Form 701 had to be returned within 30 days. Due to the delay in the USPS mail service, PBGC is extending the timeframe to return the completed form to the end of February. There is no longer a 30-day requirement. You will receive your February 1, 2021, payment even if the form is not returned within 30 days. Please complete the form by mail or using MyPBA prior to February 28, 2021. We apologize for any inconvenience.
PBGC is a federal agency created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to protect pension benefits in private-sector defined benefit plans. If your pension plan is insured by PBGC and ends without sufficient money to pay all benefits, PBGC’s insurance program will pay you the benefit provided by your pension plan up to the limits set by law.
PBGC’s Single-Employer Insurance Program is financed by insurance premiums, investment income, and assets and recoveries from failed single-employer plans. The Multiemployer Insurance Program is financed by insurance premiums and investment income.
Yes. PBGC insures the company’s defined benefit pension plan, which covers more than 24,000 participants.
PBGC is not responsible for The McClatchy Company Executive Supplemental Retirement Plan.
The company filed for Chapter 11 protection on February 13, 2020, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
About six - eight weeks before you want your pension benefits to start, call PBGC’s Customer Contact Center to request an application for pension benefits.
Note: PBGC does not automatically send applications to participants approaching age 65.
Call 1-800-400-7242. TTY/ASCII users may call 711. Remember to have your Social Security or customer ID number, plan name, and case number ready so the customer service representative is best able to help you.
Your pension payments from PBGC begin after you contact us. If you have already reached age 65 when you contact us to begin your pension payments, your monthly benefits will be increased by an actuarial factor to reflect your age at the payment starting date.
PBGC does not automatically send applications to participants approaching age 65 and does not automatically pay benefits retroactively to age 65.
When an underfunded pension plan is terminated and transferred to PBGC, we notify plan participants and beneficiaries and provide information about their plan and PBGC.
If you are already receiving a pension, your payments will continue without interruption in the annuity form you chose at retirement.
If you have not yet retired, your payments will begin when you become eligible and apply for pension benefits.
No. You cannot earn additional pension benefits under your plan after the date the plan terminates.
If the total value of your benefit payable by PBGC is $5,000 or less and you have not started receiving monthly payments, you can receive a lump sum from PBGC.
Yes. The primary pension plan is the McClatchy Company Retirement Plan (MCRP). The Knight Ridder Pension Plan (KRPP) was later merged into McClatchy’s pension plan. Below is a list of most of the newspaper media organizations covered by the MCRP. This list does not include all properties previously owned by McClatchy or Knight Ridder.
Some of the organizations with pension plans that were merged into the McClatchy Company Retirement Plan include: Anchorage Daily News, Beaufort Gazette, Bradenton Sun Herald, Belleville News Democrat, Bellingham Herald, Contra Costa Times, The (Tallahassee) Democrat, Centre Daily Times, Charlotte Observer, Columbus Ledger-Inquirer, Duluth News Tribune, Fresno Bee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Gary Tribune, Island Packet, Idaho Statesman, Journal of Commerce, Kansas City Star, Knight Ridder Dialog, Knight Ridder Financial, Lexington Herald Leader, Long Beach Press Telegram, Macon Telegraph, Miami Herald, Modesto Bee, News and Observer (Raleigh), Rock Hill Herald, Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News (nonunion), State Record, St. Paul Pioneer Press (nonunion), Sun News (Myrtle Beach), Tacoma News Tribune, Tri-City Herald, Wichita Eagle, and the Wilkes Barre Times Leader.
The pension plans of some organizations acquired by McClatchy were not merged into the McClatchy Company Retirement Plan. For example, the pension plan of the Durham Herald-Sun, purchased after the McClatchy plan was frozen, is not part of the McClatchy plan.