To give you a better idea of how these legal limitations might affect your benefit, let’s look at which limits are likely to affect the different types of retirement benefits.
If you retired under your plan’s Normal Retirement or Deferred Vested Retirement, your benefit will not be affected by the Accrued-at-Normal Limitation, and it is unlikely to be affected by the MGB limitation. If you retired after September 30, 2003, your benefit might be affected by the Phase-In Limitation due to increases to the benefit rates used to calculate your Basic Benefit. However, the decrease due to the Phase-In limitation is likely to be small.
If you retired under your plan’s 30 Year, Rule-of-85 or Voluntary 60 & 10 Retirement, your benefit will be affected by the Accrued-at-Normal Limit only if you are younger than age 62 and 1 month on July 31, 2009, the date your plan terminated. This is because these retirement types provided supplements that are only paid until age 62 and 1 month.
If you were older than age 62 on July 31, 2009, and were no longer receiving a supplement, your benefit will not be affected by the Accrued-at-Normal Limitation. However, your benefit may be affected by the MGB.
If you retired after September 30, 2003, your benefit might be affected by the Phase-In Limitation due to increases to the benefit rates used to calculate your Basic Benefit. As with the previous retirement types, any decrease due to the Phase-In Limitation is likely to be small.
If you retired with Mutually Satisfactory Retirement benefits under Delphi’s Special Attrition Program in 2006 or 2007, increases to your benefit due to the Mutual Retirement may not be guaranteed.
PBGC is still looking at this issue and we will provide more information as soon as it's available.
However, if you retired under the plan’s Mutually Satisfactory Retirement outside of the Special Attrition Program, your benefit will be guaranteed subject to the legal limitations. If you were still receiving supplement payments when the plan terminated, your benefit will be affected by the Accrued-at-Normal Limitation.
Mutually Satisfactory Retirement benefits are unlikely to be affected by the Maximum Guaranteeable Benefit, although some will be subject to the Phase-In Limitation.
PBGC phases in benefit increases due to events such as plant closings or permanent lay-offs from the date of the event. Therefore, in addition to phasing-in the benefit rate increases, your increases due to eligibility for the Mutual Retirement will be phased-in based on the date you were laid off.
If you’re receiving a disability pension, your disability benefits will not be affected by the Accrued-at-Normal Limitation.
If you're eligible for disability under the plan AND for Social Security Disability, the Disability Maximum Guaranteeable Benefit is not reduced based on your age, so it's less likely your benefit will be limited by the MGB. And, if you retired after September 30, 2003, your benefit might be affected by the Phase-In Limitation due to increases in the benefit rates used to calculate your benefit. As with the previous retirement types, any decrease due to the Phase-In Limitation is likely to be small.
