This topic pertains to participants with an “Active” ProVal status. Enter the criteria for determining the Earliest Retirement Age (ERA) (as defined in PBGC Regulation 4044.2) and the Unreduced Retirement Age (URA) (as defined in PBGC Regulation 4001.2).

The grids allow you to specify Age, Service and Points (age + service) criteria for eligibility; each row is interpreted as having “and” linking the requirements. For example, someone must both be 55 years old and have 10 years of service to be eligible if the row has 55 in the Age column and 10 in the Service column. An individual is considered eligible at the earliest satisfaction of two rows from the grid. For example, if there are two rows, one row that specifies age 62 and 10 years of service and another row that specifies age 65, then someone needs to be either 65 years old or 62 years old with 10 years of service to be eligible. Check the Not earlier than age 55 box to denote that the Earliest Retirement Age cannot be before age 55.

Note that the Unreduced Retirement Age criteria should include normal retirement age as defined by Regulation 4001.2. Specifically, if no normal retirement age is specified in the plan, it is presumed to be age 65,

If Regulation 4044.57 applies (“Specialty rule for facility closing”), the XRA should be set equal to the earliest retirement age at the calculation date. In this situation, set the URA equal to the ERA eligibility.

Satisfaction of retirement age criteria is determined with no rounding. For example, an individual 54.9 years old will not be considered to have met an age 55 requirement. If you wish to apply specific rounding requirements for age, you may code the age requirement as 54.5. If you wish to apply specific rounding requirements for service, use a Service Definition (discussed below).

The Service based on parameter determines how to measure service when applying service-based and points-based requirements. You may specify either a database Field or a Service Definition. If you specify a Field, you may refer to a date field from which to calculate service or to a numeric field containing service at the calculation date. Select the desired field from among the numeric and date fields unhidden in the current Project or, if you need fractional service accruals (e.g., hours-related service) or rounding (e.g., count partial years as full years), select from the library of Service Definitions. The button accesses the library to create and modify Service Definitions.

If there are multiple rows of retirement age requirements and with differing definitions of service for the rows (for example, age 55 and 10 years of service from hire or age 60 and 5 years of plan participation) then, to specify an alternative service for a particular grid row, click the Service Overrides button. This button leads to the Eligibility Service Overrides dialog box. The Eligibility section of this dialog box lists each row of the Earliest Retirement Age and Unreduced Retirement Age grids, along with the row Type (ERA or URA) and the Age / Service / Points values entered in the grid. To override service for an eligibility Condition for ERA and/or URA, click one of the entries below, which leads to another dialog box in which you select a Field or Service Definition to apply specifically to the entry you’ve selected. After selecting the alternative eligibility service, click OK, to return to the Eligibility Service Overrides dialog box, which now displays your selection for the grid rows in the Service Override column. (You may remove an eligibility service override by selecting the grid row it applies to and clicking the Erase button.)

Choose how to handle Age and service accruals to determine when ERA and URA eligibility is met. Select Project age and service (ERISA 4010) to project age and service from the calculation date. Select Project age and freeze service to project age but use, at all future decrement dates, the service value as of the calculation date. Select Freeze age and service to freeze both age and service at the calculation date value.