You Asked...

11/12/2008
	Bob Hastedt, Director of Education at the YMCA Retirement Fund, answers your questions.

I chose a Joint & Survivor Annuity. Can I change my Survivor?

The short answer is “no.” But let’s start with the basics about annuities:

Once you are no longer working for a YMCA, you can start a lifetime annuity as early as age 55. You can decide whether to take an annuity or a distribution with the monies saved in either the Retirement Plan or the Savings Plan, while leaving your money in the other Plan to continue to earn interest. These decisions can be made for each Plan at different times. Your options regarding distributions are outlined in Your Guide to the YMCA Retirement Fund.

The Types of Annuities table in Your Guide to Understanding the YMCA Retirement Fund summarizes the key features of the different annuity options available to you. It is important that you make a selection that best suits you, because after your annuity has started, the option you select cannot be changed or modified in any way.

How is my annuity calculated?
Your annuity calculation is based on three things:

Your account balances at retirement,
The annuity option you chose, and
The life expectancies for specific individuals.

For single life annuities, we use the life expectancy of the Plan participant. For joint and survivor annuities, we use the life expectancies of both the Plan participant and the individual named to be their survivor. Once a joint and survivor annuity is chosen and a survivor is selected, neither the annuity option nor the survivor can be changed.

But what if I had named my spouse as my survivor, and then we got divorced?
Once an annuity option is selected and the first check has been cashed, the option cannot be changed or modified in any way. This includes changing the named survivor. If your named survivor is your ex-spouse, he/she still remains as your named survivor, and they will receive your Joint & Survivor annuity if you pre-decease them.

A Joint and Survivor annuity is not necessarily only chosen by married couples. While many people do name their spouse as their survivor, some people name another relative or even a friend. In all cases, once the annuity is selected and the first check has been cashed, the named survivor cannot be changed.

Why can’t I just change the name of my survivor?
For joint and survivor annuities, we use the life expectancies of both the Plan participant and the individual named to be their survivor when we calculate the annuity. Allowing a retiree to change the chosen survivor, due to divorce, death or other changes in circumstance, would affect the Plan and its funding for these annuities. Following the norm for other pension plans, our plan rules do not allow for a recalculation of an annuity due to such changes.

Here’s a nuance: Although the named survivor cannot be changed after the first annuity check has been cashed, the beneficiary of the Retired Death Benefit can be changed after the annuity is in force. This is because the Retired Death Benefit it not calculated based on any individual’s age.

Need more information? Go to FAQs, where you'll find an up-to-date list of answers to more than 150 frequently asked questions about the Fund.

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