THE SOCIAL SECURITY OFFSET HELPS MAKE EARLY RETIREMENT AFFORDABLE
CAUTION!! You must notify Delta if you start drawing Social Security before your age of full eligibility or you may owe a large amount of money to the Plan for excess benefits that were paid to you.
Since 1971 the Delta Retirement Plan (DLP or Plan) includes a Social Security Offset as part of its final average earnings formula. The Social Security Offset feature is designed to be a bridge benefit to allow participants to retire early by providing a larger pension calculation prior to beginning their Social Security benefit. The above video is only an aid to help you understand the offset. It cannot be used to compute any particular retiree’s benefits because there are so many variations in personal situations. All figures are approximate. See Delta Retirement Plan Social Security Offset and Your Pension Plan: Myth vs. Fact.
Additionally, as an aid to understand Social Security Offset, Delta has an updated video on the Deltanet for Alumni website. Click HERE, log in, and on the home page under FINANCE click Pension Plans, and then click “Understanding the Delta Retirement Plan: Social Security Offset” video. Directly below the video is Pension Plan Documents which contains a detailed document, Understanding Social Security ~Offset, also prepared by Delta to further explain Social Security Offset with calculation scenarios and FAQ’s.
If you are receiving monthly benefits from the Delta Retirement Plan, you may be eligible for an increase in your monthly benefit as well as a lump sum payment of past missed benefits.
DRC is aware that in determining the Social Security offset, Delta overestimated Social Security earnings for some, if not many, retirees. If you are one of those retirees, this means that your offset should be lower, and your Plan benefit higher. To determine if you are eligible for an increase in your monthly benefit (and a lump sum payment of back benefits), you should send the Plan a record of your actual Social Security earnings. Delta will recalculate your Social Security offset using your actual earnings. If that recalculation results in a lower offset, (which will mean a higher Plan benefit) Delta will increase your monthly benefit and pay a lump sum of missed benefits. If you are not eligible for an increased benefit, your benefit will remain the same as if you had not submitted your actual earnings.
Your actual Social Security earnings can be obtained from your Social Security account at the Social Security website. Be sure that your earnings are provided on an annual basis, and not as a total number for each decade worked.
Submit your earnings to: My Delta Service Center, P.O. Box 52175, Phoenix, AZ 85072
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