RMD effect on death benefit eligibility

[JBones]

Is a participant in a DB plan who has reached 70.5 and begun a period certain annuity to meet RMD requirements, but continues employment and continues accruing benefits still eligible for an insured pre-retirement death benefit, or does the fact that they have started an annuity mean he is no longer considered "pre-retirement"?

[david rigby]

Depends on the precise wording in the plan document?

Implicit in your Q appears to be using "retirement" and "benefit commencement" as equivalent. Maybe yes, maybe no.

Another point to remember: the document may be ambiguous, but it may be possible to amend out that ambiguity.

[JBones]

Depends on the precise wording in the plan document?

Implicit in your Q appears to be using "retirement" and "benefit commencement" as equivalent. Maybe yes, maybe no.

Another point to remember: the document may be ambiguous, but it may be possible to amend out that ambiguity.

Thank you David. The document does seem ambiguous. It states that those participants who are prior to "Retirement Date" will receive the insured death benefit and those participants who are "subsequent to the Annuity Start Date" are not. But, based on the definitions of Retirement Date and Annuity Start Date, there is an argument that the participant in question is both prior to retirement date and subsequent to annuity start date. Effectively, the document states that he is both eligible and ineligible for the insured death benefit.

Based on your comments, is it safe to say that there is no applicable law that would prevent a participant from being eligible for an insured, pre-retirement death benefit, even though they are in pay status solely because of the requirement to start RMD? If that's the case, I will definitely amend out the ambiguity.