Benefit Amount

The basic amount of your Pension is frozen, but the actual amount you’ll receive is based on certain factors at the time you commence your benefit such as your age, your spouse's age, and your years of Vesting Service.

Remember, regardless of when you begin payment, the benefit remains yours.

Unreduced Benefit Milestones – You can receive an unreduced pension benefit if you meet one the following milestones:

• Age 65 + 5 years in the Plan
• Age 62 + 10 years of Vesting Service
• Age 60 or 61 + 30 years of Vesting Service

Early Retirement Reductions – Although Normal Retirement in the Plan is age 65 with 5 Years of Vesting Service, there are other age and service combinations at which you can commence your reduced benefit, after you leave K-C. The reduced benefit parameters are shown on the chart below:

Note: Dates vary for bargaining units. Refer to your Collective Bargaining Agreement for more details.

Payment Options

When you retire you have the opportunity to choose from several payment options. However, once benefit payments begin, you can’t change your form of payment, even if your marital status changes. All payment options have an Equivalent Expected Value, which simply means that all options provide the same benefit, within certain actuarial assumptions.

Annuity Payments – Monthly payments

• Basic – Benefit paid to you for your lifetime only. There is no provision for a survivor benefit.
• Joint & Survivor – Reduced benefit paid to you for your lifetime and a percentage of your benefit is paid to your spouse for their lifetime, if you should pre-decease your spouse. There are various Joint & Survivor percentage options available.
• Years Certain & Life – Reduced benefit paid to you for your lifetime and the same monthly amount is paid to your survivor(s) or estate for a specific number of years, if you should die before the end of the “certain” period. There are various Certain & Life options available.
• Age 62 Level Income Option – This can be added to any of the above options and impacts only your payment. This payment option increases the amount of your retirement benefit paid by the Plan until you reach age 62. At that point, your payment would decrease so that, with your anticipated primary age-62 Social Security benefit as calculated at the time of your retirement, you would have approximately the same amount of total income during retirement.

Lump Sum Payment – One single payment

• Available at any age once you leave K-C.
• Calculated using your unreduced monthly basic benefit, early-retirement reduction factor (if applicable) and an actuarial lump-sum factor.
• You can roll all or a part of your balance into the K-C 401(k) & Profit Sharing Plan (existing balance of $7,000 required), an IRA, or another qualified plan, and
• Spousal consent is required.