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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

$7,000+/mo

DC plan $5,830 + NEBF ~$1,225 + PBF ~$190 · using the 4% safe-withdrawal rate

or up to ~$10,160/mo at the more aggressive 0.5% monthly allocation rate

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, the IBEW member's family comes out roughly $2.3M–$2.6M ahead — combining the monthly income gap with the $1.5M–$2M DC account balance the spouse inherits intact. Larger gap against New Entrants; smaller against best-case Grandfathered.

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 May 31, 2026: 12% to the pension fund + 8% to Income Security = 20% combined ($10.357/hr) once you're vested. At 2,000 hours that's roughly $20,714/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
  • ✓ Projection at 35 years (4% annual safe-withdrawal rate / Bengen rule): $5,830/month — mathematically preserves the full $1.5M–$2M+ principal indefinitely for the surviving spouse. This is the standard benchmark every financial planner uses.
  • ✓ Higher draw option (0.5% monthly allocation ≈ 6% annual): $8,747.80/month. Larger monthly check; principal may erode modestly over a long retirement depending on market returns. Many active members today have higher account balances than this assumes.
  • ✓ 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 ($1.554/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' Pension — Two Tiers, Restructuring 10/1/2026

The Carpenters Local 57 (Mid-America Carpenters) pension splits members into Grandfathered (began accruing before May 1, 2020) and New Entrant (after May 1, 2020). Both are inferior to the IBEW's three-fund structure; New Entrant is materially worse.

Grandfathered Plan — Began Accruing Before May 1, 2020

  • ✗ 35 years @ 2,000 hrs/yr (single-life): standard payment form is Five Years Certain & Life with a 3% annual COLA, starting at ~$3,885/mo and growing 3% each May 1 · or elect the Level option for ~$4,988/mo flat for life (no increases)
  • ✗ Married 50% J&S default reduces retiree benefit ~9–10% (COLA form) or ~7% (Level form); surviving spouse receives 50% for life
  • ✗ COLA tracks plan rule, not inflation: fixed 3% annually regardless of CPI — below recent inflation in 2021–2023
  • ✗ Early-retirement perks (Grandfathered only): Rule of 90 (age + service ≥ 90 = full benefit at 55+) and 60/30 Rule (30 yrs at age 60 = full benefit)
  • ✗ Disability: requires 5 yrs of Credited Service + SSA disability determination

New Entrant Plan — Began Accruing On or After May 1, 2020

  • ✗ 35 yrs @ 2,000 hrs/yr (single-life): $3,850/mo flat for life · married 50% J&S reduces accordingly, surviving spouse receives 50% for life
  • ✗ Accrual: $0.055 per hour worked → $110/mo per year of work at 2,000 hrs · no bonus credit for hours above 1,000 in a Plan Year
  • ✗ No COLA option at all — Level benefit only, never increases
  • ✗ No Rule of 90, no 60/30 Rule — standard early-retirement reduction only
  • ✗ Service-credit accrual: 1.00 yr per Plan Year, capped at 1 — Grandfathered gets 1.50 yrs at 2,000 hrs

Both Tiers Share

  • ✗ Apprentices indentured after 5/1/2017 accrue at only 75% of the journeyman rate
  • ✗ 5-year vesting · Normal Retirement Date age 62 (changes to 65 after the 10/1/2026 MACRC merger)
  • ✗ Pre-retirement death benefit capped at $2,000 × years of Future Service Credit — about $50K–$70K typical · nothing post-retirement unless you permanently reduced your monthly to elect a J&S form
  • ✗ One DB pension fund (plus a separate St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Annuity Fund — a DC layer recordkept by John Hancock; contribution rates appear on the Local 57 wage sheet but typical balances are not published, and the DC layer does not approach the IBEW DC plan's projected $1.5M–$2M+ balance)
  • ✗ PBGC backstop capped at $35.75/mo × yrs of service if the fund fails (~$12,870/yr max at 30 yrs)

Coming October 1, 2026 — MACRC Pension Fund Merger

Per the Carpenters' 2026 Answer Guide, the St. Louis Carpenters Pension Fund merges into the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council (MACRC) Pension Fund effective 10/1/2026. Already-earned pensions are protected at the old formula. Going forward, new accruals follow MACRC rules:

  • → New accrual formula: 1.25% × total employer pension contributions (hourly rate × hours worked). The Answer Guide cites a "Greater annual accrual" promise.
  • → Normal Retirement Age moves from 62 to 65. Carpenters who retire at 62 under the merged plan accept an early-retirement reduction on the MACRC portion that didn't exist before.
  • → Rule of 90 preserved only for Grandfathered participants. New Entrants lose it permanently.
  • → New $3,000 retirement death benefit. Modest; does not approach the IBEW DC inheritance.
  • → Mostly prospective. For an established journeyman, most of the lifetime pension was already locked in at the old $110–$111/mo per year of work rate; the new formula applies only to future hours. The headline "greater annual accrual" is true per-future-hour but doesn't transform a mid-career member's pension.

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 Local 1 journeyman with 35 years of service comes out roughly

$2.3M–$2.6M ahead

of a Carpenters Local 57 electrician at the same tenure — combining the monthly income gap with the $1.5M–$2M DC account balance that passes to the surviving spouse intact. Using the conservative 4% safe-withdrawal rate as the benchmark. The gap is wider against New Entrant members and narrower against best-case Grandfathered members electing the higher Level payment form.

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
  • IBEW Local 1 Inside Wages & Fringes 2026–2027 — wage and benefit package effective May 31, 2026
  • National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF) — Summary Plan Description, January 2025
  • IBEW Pension Benefit Fund — Summary Plan Description, January 2023
  • Carpenters' Pension Plan (Mid-America Carpenters Benefits) — Summary Plan Description, plan in effect as of May 1, 2024 (most recent printing May 20, 2026)
  • Mid-America Carpenters Benefits 2026 Answer Guide — all-funds summary covering Health, St. Louis Pension, MACRC Pension (effective 10/1/2026), and STLKC Carpenters Regional Annuity Fund
  • Carpenters Local 57 (AEC of St. Louis) Wage and Fringe Benefit Rates — effective August 1, 2025

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.