PBGC Revises Retirement Age Table

The updated table applies to distressed and terminating pension plans with valuation dates falling in 2014. Officials at the PBGC use the table to compute the value of early retirement benefits and, thus, the total value of benefits defined under a pension plan.

Changes to the table are designed to provide an updated correlation between the amount of a participant’s benefit and the probability that the participant will elect early retirement, according to a statement from the PBGC in the Federal Register. Such considerations factor significantly into the annuitization process and other valuation processes associated with distressed and terminating pensions. 

Use of the table falls under PBGC’s pension plan termination insurance program, as stipulated in Title IV of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), especially subpart B of Section 4044.

A copy of the table, as well as an explanatory statement from the PBGC, is available here.