Section 6. Retroactive Annuity Starting Date

Section 6.1. If elected by the employer in the Adoption Agreement, the participant may elect a retroactive annuity starting date. A retroactive annuity starting date shall mean an annuity starting date affirmatively elected by a participant that occurs on or before the date the written explanation required in section 5.1 of this article is provided to the participant. A participant cannot elect a retroactive annuity starting date that precedes the date upon which the participant could have otherwise started receiving benefits under the terms of the plan in effect as of the retroactive annuity starting date. Future periodic payments with respect to a participant who elects a retroactive annuity starting date must be the same as the future periodic payments, if any, that would have been paid with respect to the participant had payments actually commenced on the retroactive annuity starting date.

The participant must receive a make-up payment to reflect any missed payment or payments for the period from the retroactive annuity starting date to the date of the actual make-up payment (adjusted for interest at the rate specified in section _____ of the Adoption Agreement from the date the missed payments(s) would have been made to the date of the actual make-up payment). Annuity payments that otherwise satisfy the requirements of a qualified joint and survivor

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annuity under section 4.4 of this article will not fail to be treated as a qualified joint and survivor annuity for purposes of section _____ because a retroactive annuity starting date is elected and a make-up payment is made.

(Note to reviewer: The 1st blank should be filled in with the section number of the adoption agreement where the employer specifies the rate of interest used to determine actuarial equivalence of benefits. The 2nd blank should be filled in with the section number of the plan which corresponds to section 6.1 of LRM #40.)

Section 6.2. The participant’s spouse (including an alternate payee who is treated as a spouse under a qualified domestic relation order as described in IRC 414(p), determined as if the date distributions commence were the participant’s annuity starting date, shall consent to the distribution in a manner that would satisfy the requirements of section 4.3 of this article. The spousal consent requirement of this section 6.2 does not apply if the amount of such spouse’s survivor annuity payments under the retroactive annuity starting date election is no less than the amount that the survivor payments to such spouse would have been under an optional form of benefit that would satisfy the requirements to be a qualified joint and survivor annuity under section 4.4 of this article and that has an annuity starting date after the date the explanation required by section 5.1 of this article was provided.

If the participant’s spouse as of the retroactive annuity starting date would not be the participant’s spouse determined as if the date distributions commence was the participant’s annuity starting date, consent of that former spouse is not needed to waive the qualified joint and survivor annuity with respect to the retroactive annuity starting date, unless otherwise provided under a qualified domestic relations order as described in IRC 414(p).

Section 6.3. The written explanation required by section 5.1 shall be provided no less than 30 days and no more than 180 days before the date of the first payment of benefits pursuant to the retroactive annuity starting date, and the election to receive the distribution shall be made after the written explanation is provided and on or before the date of the first payment.

Section 6.4. When the date the distribution commences is substituted for the annuity starting date for all purposes (including for purposes of determining the applicable interest rate under section _____ of the plan and the applicable mortality table under section _____ of the plan), the distribution (including interest adjustments) must satisfy the requirements of section _____. However, if the date the distribution commences is 12 months or less from the retroactive annuity starting date and the form of the benefit would have been excepted from IRC 417(e)(3) if the distribution had actually commenced on the retroactive annuity starting date, the requirement to apply section _____ as of the date the distribution commences does not apply. The benefit determined as of the retroactive annuity starting date must satisfy the requirements of section _____ with the applicable interest rate and the applicable mortality table determined as of that date.

(Note to reviewer: The first two blanks above should be filled in with the sections of the plan that specify the applicable interest rate and applicable mortality table that correspond to section 2 and 3 of LRM # 42. The remaining blanks should be filled in with the section number of the plan that corresponds to LRM # 40.)

In the case of a form of benefit that would have been subject to IRC 417(e)(3) if distributions had commenced as of the retroactive annuity starting date, the distribution shall be not less than

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the benefit produced by applying the applicable interest rate under section _____ and the applicable mortality table under section _____ determined as of the date the distribution actually commences to the annuity form that corresponds to the annuity form that was used to determine the benefit amount as of the retroactive annuity starting date. The benefit determined as of the retroactive annuity starting date must satisfy the requirements of IRC 417(e)(3) with the applicable interest rate and the applicable mortality table determined as of that date.

(Note to reviewer: The blanks above should be filled in with the section numbers of the plan which correspond to section 2 of LRM # 42 and section 3 of LRM # 42.)

(Note to reviewer: If a plan does provide for a retroactive annuity starting date, it may impose conditions on the availability of a retroactive annuity starting date in addition to those imposed by this section 6, provided that imposition of those additional conditions does not violate any of the rules applicable to qualified plans.)

Sample Adoption Agreement Language:

(Note to reviewer: Section 4 of LRM #54 is an optional provision that provides that the plan will accept direct rollovers from a qualified defined contribution plan maintained by the employer in order to obtain an additional annuity. If the provision in section 4 of LRM #54 is included as an option in the plan, the following sample adoption agreement language should be modified to conform to the requirement of section 4 of LRM #54 that a participant may not elect a retroactive annuity starting date with respect to the benefit attributable to any rollover contribution.)

The plan: (Select one of the following options.)

2. ( ) will

3. ( ) will not

allow participants to elect retroactive annuity starting dates in accordance with section _____.

(Note to reviewer: The blank should be filled in with the section number of the plan that corresponds to section 6 of LRM # 46.)