You must make formal application to the Plan for retirement in the manner and form prescribed by the Trustees. These forms are available from the Contract Administrator, from your shop steward or at the Plan's web site on the internet. You must be prepared to furnish any information or proof reasonably required for the administration of the Plan. Failure to furnish such information or proof promptly and in good faith will be sufficient reason for the denial of benefits.

If you make known to the Plan in writing that you intend to file for benefits and if the Plan finds that you will be eligible for benefits which amount to less than $1,000, your benefit will be paid to you in one lump sum.

If you make known to the Plan in writing that you intend to file for benefits and the Plan finds that you will be eligible for benefits totaling $1,000 or more, the Plan will send you:

1. The terms and conditions of a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity if you are married, or a Life Annuity if you are single;
2. The Participant's right to make, and the effect, of an election to waive the annuity form of benefit;
3. The rights of a Participant's spouse, and
4. The right to make, and the effect of, a revocation of a previous election to waive the qualified joint and survivor annuity.

The Plan will advise you as to the approximate Accumulated Share in your Individual Account and how much you would receive in either one lump sum or how much you would receive monthly in an annuity form commencing at a future date.

After you receive this information, you will make a "Qualified Election" during the prescribed Election Period. What this means is that you can be paid in one of two ways:

1. Annuity — Monthly Payments for life.
2. One Lump Sum — Only with a qualified election signed.

IMPORTANT: Unless the optional mode of benefit (lump sum is selected pursuant to a "Qualified Election" within the 90 day period ending on the date benefits would commence, a married Participant's Accumulated Share will be paid in the form of a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity and an unmarried Participant's Accumulated Share will be paid in the form of a Life Annuity.

IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THE DEFINITION OF "QUALIFIED ELECTION". BECAUSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS TERM, WE QUOTE THE DEFINITION FROM THE PLAN DIRECTLY:

Section 405 (B) (2) Definition
Qualified Election. The term "Qualified Election" shall mean a waiver of a qualified joint and survivor annuity. The waiver must be in writing and must be consented to by the Participant's spouse. The spouse's consent to a waiver must be witnessed by a Plan representative or notary public and must be limited to a benefit for a specific alternate Beneficiary. Notwithstanding this consent requirement, if the Participant establishes to the satisfaction of a Plan representative that such written consent may not be obtained because there is no spouse or the spouse cannot be located, a waiver will be deemed a qualified election. Any consent necessary under this provision will not be valid with respect to any other spouse. Additionally, a revocation of a prior waiver may be made by a Participant without the consent of the spouse at any time before the commencement of benefits. The number of revocations shall not be limited. Any new waiver or change of beneficiary will require a new spousal consent.

REMEMBER: If the retirement benefit is to be paid in the form of a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity, it shall commence in the month when the Participant reaches 62 years of age.