A  Joint Life & Social Security Level Income payment form cannot be an unreduced normal form.  However, it is possible to ignore the J&S reduction when leveling the benefit (see parameter below), which is conceptually appropriate if an unreduced J&S is the normal form of payment for married participants with a J&S level income optional payment form.  For Joint Life & Social Security Level Income payment forms, the Conversion from Normal Form topic offers the options below.

Calculate Social Security Level Income using: provides two choices for converting the member benefit (after the J&S conversion) into a Social Security Level Income option:

• Actuarial Equivalence indicates that the social security level income conversion is based on the designated actuarial equivalence assumptions.  Selecting <Plan's actuarial equivalence> will use the actuarial equivalence assumptions defined under the Plan Definition plan attributes.  Otherwise, an alternative actuarial equivalence from the actuarial equivalence library may be specified.  
  

• Table lookup allows you to specify a table of factors to determine the conversion of the member benefit into a Social Security Level Income option. Once selected, a multi-choice field becomes available that allows you to select from the conversion table library entries unhidden in the current Project .

Calculate J&S conversion factor using: provides two choices for converting from the normal form to a J&S annuity :

• Actuarial Equivalence indicates that the J&S annuity conversion is based on the designated actuarial equivalence assumptions.  Selecting <Plan's actuarial equivalence> will use the actuarial equivalence assumptions defined under the Plan Definition plan attributes.  Otherwise, an alternative actuarial equivalence from the actuarial equivalence library may be specified.  
  
  Please note:  The option to use an actuarial equivalence that is different from the plan actuarial equivalence was originally designed to be used with lump sum payment forms.  If an actuarial equivalence other than <Plan's actuarial equivalence> is selected for converting to the J&S annuity, a warning message ("Alternative actuarial equivalence may give undesirable results.") will be generated on execution because, for purposes of the conversion factor, while the specified payment form will be valued on the alternative actuarial equivalence basis, the normal form of payment will be valued on the plan's actuarial equivalence basis.  If a plan requires multiple actuarial equivalence bases, the correct results are typically obtained by specifying the plan actuarial equivalence by coded field or Benefit Definition.  For your protection, a warning of this nature is also provided at the time alternative actuarial equivalence is selected in the dialog box.

• Table lookup allows you to specify a table of factors to determine the conversion of the normal form into a J&S annuity. Once selected, a multi-choice field becomes available that allows you to select from the conversion table library entries unhidden in the current Project .

If Ignore J&S reduction when leveling the benefit is checked, the member benefit is calculated using only the conversion assumptions for the Social Security Level Income leveling with no J&S reduction.  This would be appropriate when an unreduced J&S benefit is the normal form for married participants.

For minimum actuarial equivalence and other conversion from normal form parameters, see Conversion from Normal Form.