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IBEW vs Carpenters: The Pension Truth

IBEW members retire across three independent pension funds. Carpenters retire on one. Here's every number, sourced directly from each plan's Summary Plan Description.

At 35 Years of Service

Single-life / Lifetime option, before spousal elections

IBEW

$18,000+/mo

DC plan $16,853 + NEBF ~$1,225 + PBF ~$190

Plus a $1.5M–$2M+ inheritable account balance the surviving spouse receives in full on death.

Carpenters

$3,850/mo

Single DB plan, post-5/1/2020 entrants · best case at 2,000 hrs/yr every year

Pre-retirement death benefit capped at ~$50K–$70K. Post-retirement: nothing to heirs unless you permanently reduced your monthly check.

Over a 20-year retirement, that's roughly $3.4M–$3.5M more in lifetime pension income for the IBEW member.

The IBEW's Three Pension Layers

Each is an independent, employer- or dues-funded fund. None depends on the others to pay out.

1

Local 1 IBEW Pension Benefit Trust Fund (Primary, DC)

An individual investment account. Every hour you work, your employer deposits a percentage of your gross pay. The account grows. At retirement, it's yours.

  • ✓ Employer pays into your account every hour you work. Under the wage and benefit package effective June 22, 2025: 12% to the pension fund + 8% to Income Security = 20% combined ($9.86/hr) once you're vested. At 2,000 hours that's roughly $19,720/year going into your account.
  • ✓ Income Security vesting: 10,000 credits — you earn roughly 5 credits per hour worked, so a full year of work gets you vested and the Income Security 8% redirects into the pension
  • ✓ Immediate full vesting in the pension account itself — no minimum service required to own the dollars contributed on your behalf
  • ✓ Real-life projection at 35 years: $16,853/month at the 1% monthly allocation rate (early-retirement-style payout). Many active members today have higher account balances than this assumes.
  • ✓ Sustainable lifetime rate (0.5% allocation): $8,747.80/month preserves principal indefinitely
  • ✓ Inheritance: spouse receives 100% of the account balance — not a percentage-based annuity option. The full $1.5M–$2M passes to the surviving spouse by default.
  • ✓ Severance access: 80% of balance after 12 months out of the industry (cap $100K); 100% after 24 months
  • ✓ You direct your own investment allocation — Empower-managed with target-date, index, and stable-value options
2

National Electrical Benefit Fund (Secondary, DB)

A nationwide defined-benefit pension funded entirely by employer contributions on top of everything else.

  • ✓ Employer contributes 3% of gross payroll ($1.479/hr) directly to NEBF — on top of the 20% Local 1 pension contribution
  • ✓ 35 years adds approximately $1,225/month for life on top of the DC plan
  • ✓ 50% spousal benefit default · 75% spousal option available with consent
  • ✓ 5-year vesting · PBGC-insured — federal multiemployer DB backstop
  • ✓ Disability pension available with SSA determination; floored at 20 credits minimum
3

National IBEW Pension Benefit Fund (Tertiary, DB)

A dues-funded pension paid for by IBEW members through monthly per-capita contributions. A smaller but real third layer.

  • ✓ 35 years adds approximately $175–$192/month for life
  • ✓ 50% Optional Spouse's Benefit available, actuarially reduced
  • ✓ Pre-retirement death benefit: $6,250 natural causes · $12,500 accidental (for non-retired members in good standing)
  • ✓ 5-year vesting for Normal Pension at 65; 20+ years required for Early Retirement, Disability, and Vested Pension
★

Stay Tuned — Surrounding IBEW Locals

The figures above are sourced from IBEW Local 1 (St. Louis). Side-by-side comparisons for nearby IBEW Locals — Local 309 (Collinsville/Southern IL), Local 649 (Alton/Western IL), Local 453 (Jefferson City), Local 124 (Kansas City), Local 2 (St. Louis), and others in the surrounding jurisdiction — are coming soon. Each Local's pension contribution rates, healthcare benefits, and CBA-specific terms differ slightly, but the same three-pension-fund structure (Local + NEBF + national IBEW PBF) applies across the IBEW.

The Carpenters' One Pension Plan — In Two Tiers

The Mid-America Carpenters Pension runs different terms depending on when you joined. Both are inferior to the IBEW; the post-2020 tier is materially worse.

Tier 1 — Joined Before May 1, 2020

  • ✗ 35 years @ 2,000 hrs/yr: ~$3,885/mo single-life Level option · or ~$3,024/mo starting with the 3% annual COLA
  • ✗ Married 50% J&S default reduces retiree benefit ~7–10%; surviving spouse receives 50% for life
  • ✗ COLA option: 3%/year — but starts at ~78% of the Level amount, and below recent inflation
  • ✗ Early-retirement perks (older tier only): Rule of 90 (age + service ≥ 90 = full benefit) and 60/30 Rule (30 yrs at age 60 = full benefit)
  • ✗ Disability: requires 5 yrs of service

Tier 2 — Joined On or After May 1, 2020 (New Entrants)

  • ✗ 35 yrs @ 2,000 hrs/yr (single-life): $3,850/mo · married 50% J&S: $3,576/mo + $1,788 surviving spouse
  • ✗ Accrual: $0.055 per hour worked — no $110/mo unless you log 2,000 hours every single year
  • ✗ No COLA option at all — Level Benefit only, never increases
  • ✗ No Rule of 90, no 60/30 Rule — standard 6%/yr early-retirement reduction only
  • ✗ Disability: requires 10 yrs of service (twice the older tier)
  • ✗ Service-credit accrual: 1.00 yr per 2,000 hrs (older tier gave 1.50 yrs)

Both Tiers Share

  • ✗ Apprentices accrue at only 75% of the journeyman rate
  • ✗ 5-year vesting · Normal Retirement at 62
  • ✗ Death benefit capped at $2,000 × years of service — about $50K–$70K typical pre-retirement; nothing post-retirement unless you permanently reduced your monthly
  • ✗ One DB plan only — no secondary or tertiary pension layers
  • ✗ PBGC backstop capped at $35.75/mo × yrs of service if the fund fails (~$12,870/yr max at 30 yrs)

What Your Spouse and Heirs Actually Receive

IBEW Member Dies

  • ✓ DC plan: Spouse receives the full account balance — typically $1.5M–$2M+
  • ✓ NEBF: Surviving-spouse annuity, 50% or 75% of retiree benefit for life
  • ✓ IBEW PBF: 50% Optional Spouse's Benefit for life; plus a $6,250–$12,500 death benefit if death is pre-retirement

Carpenters Member Dies

  • ✗ Pre-retirement: Single-sum death benefit capped at $2,000 × years of service — about $50K–$70K typical
  • ✗ Pre-retirement spouse: 50% J&S monthly annuity if vested and married 1+ year
  • ✗ Post-retirement: Nothing unless you elected a permanently reduced monthly J&S benefit up front. If you took the higher single-life amount, payments stop at your death.

The 20-Year Lifetime Difference

Over a typical 20-year retirement, an IBEW journeyman with 35 years of service receives roughly

$3.4M–$3.5M more

in lifetime pension income than a Carpenters journeyman at the same tenure. And the IBEW member's spouse still inherits the DC-plan balance on top of that.

Get Started With the IBEW

Sources

All figures on this page are taken from the official Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs) issued by the respective pension funds:

  • Local No. 1 IBEW Pension Benefit Trust Fund — Summary Plan Description, May 2022
  • National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF) — Summary Plan Description, January 2025
  • IBEW Pension Benefit Fund — Summary Plan Description, January 2023
  • Mid-America Carpenters Pension Plan — Summary Plan Description (pre-5/1/2020 participants)
  • Mid-America Carpenters Pension Plan — Summary Plan Description for New Entrants (effective 5/1/2020)

Disclaimer

The information on this page is provided for general educational and comparison purposes only. It is a summary based on the Summary Plan Descriptions identified above and is not, and is not intended to be, a complete recitation of either pension plan. Plan terms, contribution rates, accrual rates, and payment options change from time to time and may have changed since the dates of the SPDs cited.

In the event of any difference between the information presented here and the official Plan Documents, the Plan Documents control. Nothing on this page creates any right to a benefit, modifies the terms of any pension plan, or constitutes legal, tax, or financial advice.

Your actual retirement benefit depends on many individual factors including but not limited to: years of credited service, hours worked per year, contribution rates in effect during your career, investment returns on individual-account balances, payment-form elections, age at retirement, marital status, and your spouse's age. For a benefit estimate specific to your situation, you must contact the respective fund office — the Local 1 IBEW Pension Benefit Trust Fund office (314.752.2330), NEBF (301.556.4300), the IBEW International Office for the Pension Benefit Fund, or Mid-America Carpenters Benefits Retirement Services (314.877.2363) — and request a personalized estimate.

This page is published by IBEW Local 1 as part of its public outreach. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authored by the Carpenters' Pension Trust Fund of St. Louis, the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council, or any other Carpenters-related entity.