Guild Pension FAQ's For The Denver Post Staff

What is a defined benefit pension plan?
A defined benefit pension plan provides a specific retirement benefit determined by a formula based on your years of service, income, age at the time of retirement and survivor benefit choice. At the Post, you are covered by both The Denver Post-Denver Newspaper Guild Pension Plan (Post/Guild plan) and The Newspaper Guild International Pension Fund (Guild International plan).

When are you eligible to receive benefits? What is the normal retirement age?
After five years of employment at a minimum of 1,000 hours per year, employees are vested in both plans and become eligible for retirement benefits. The Normal Retirement Age for both plans is 65 but employees can retire as early as age 55 and begin monthly benefits at a reduced rate.

Do you have to be a Guild member to participate in the plan?
No. Editorial employees working in the Guild’s jurisdiction are covered by both pension plans regardless of union membership. However, only Guild members can vote on negotiated changes such as benefit amounts from the Post/Guild plan or employer contribution changes to the Guild International plan. The more members we have, the better our ability to maintain or even improve the pension plans. So don’t be a “free rider”. Help support the Guild in representing you.

Who handles plan investments? How are they doing?
Post/Guild plan: The company contracts with Prudential Financial as the custodian of the plan, Becker, Burke and Associates for third party review and Hewitt Associates as the plan actuaries. The most recent actuarial valuation of the plan available is from January 1, 2004. As of that date, market value of the plan assets were $28,287,979 and present value of projected benefit obligation was $22,183,198. The plan was 128% funded.

Guild International plan: The plan is managed by a union-management Board of Trustees. There are three union trustees including TNG President, Linda Foley and three management trustees from various newspapers including Missy Miller from the DNA. The plan is fully funded.

Benefits under both plans are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), an agency of the U.S. government. An employer can terminate a pension plan in only two ways.

1) Standard termination. The employer must negotiate a termination with the union. They also must show the PBGC that there is enough money in the fund to purchase an annuity to cover future benefits owed. In this case, all vested employees will receive their full vested benefits from the annuity.

2) Distress termination. The employer must show the PBGC that they cannot remain in business unless the plan is terminated. If the application is granted, PBGC will take over the plan and pay plan benefits using the plan assets and PBGC guarantee funds. If the plan was not fully funded, benefits may be reduced to the minimum guaranteed amount. The PBGC guarantees a monthly benefit equal to 100% of the first $11 of the accrual rate plus 75% of the next $33 of accrual rate, a maximum of 35.75 per month times a participant’s years of service.
 

How do I get an estimate of what my monthly pension benefits will be?
For the Post/Guild plan, you can retrieve your own pension estimate online at www.prudential.com/online/retirement or by calling 1-800-562-8838. The Guild International plan mails out annual pension estimates. You can also request an estimate by calling the plan administrator, Scott Bush at 1-888-893-3650.

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