MBA Retirement Savings Plan

​ The MBA Retirement Savings Plan is a plan designed to supplement your pension. You make small payments to the plan while you’re young, so you can receive a lifetime of monthly payments after you retire—even if you live to be 200! Under the Retirement Savings Plan, you can also request a guaranteed number of monthly payments. You choose the amount you want to contribute to your Retirement Savings Plan. It can be as little as $15 per pay period (the minimum amount allowed). You may also select your method of payment: MBA can deduct payments automatically from your paycheck, or bill you monthly or annually. * As your Retirement Savings Plan grows, you can expect to earn competitive interest rates. The plan is tax-deferred, which means you do not pay taxes on any of your interest until you draw on it— further improving your yield.

When you’re ready to retire, MBA offers a choice of four ways to collect monthly benefits: Life Annuity With Period Certain. Receive a lifetime of monthly payments. You’re guaranteed this income for as long as you live. If you die during a specified period (5, 10, 15, or 20 years), payments go to your beneficiary until the end of the period. Life Annuity. Receive monthly payments through your lifetime. No further benefits will be paid after your death.

Joint Life Annuity - You or your beneficiary receive monthly payments as long as either of you live. Full Cash Refund - Receive monthly payments as long as you are alive. When you die, the MBA will pay any money in your account to your beneficiary.

* Retirees may choose to pay premiums monthly or annually. Sorry, retirees are not eligible to use payroll deductions.

For more information contact your local branch office or call MBA’s nationwide WATS line 1 (800) 424-5184 Tuesday & Thursday • 8:00 AM–3:30 PM Eastern Time or call the MBA at (202) 638-4318 Monday–Friday • 8:00 AM–3:30 PM Eastern Time

Where the Heck's the Mailbox?

Imagine if you will that you are a new carrier on your route. Things are going along quite nicely until you get to that one house. You know the one. The one where you can't find the mailbox. You look all around the front porch, curbside, and garage. Nothing. Now, feeling like a prowler, you check the back door. Nope! Side door? Nada. Just as you are about to give up and move onto the next house, the customer comes out and tells you the regular just throws the mail in the basket on the floor.

If only there was a way for the regular to pass on this information and save a newbie like you valuable time and embarrassment? Well you're in luck! There is such a thing. Directional cards! They just take a few seconds to fill out and anyone can do it.

Directional cards are very helpful to other carriers for many reasons. If your route has any hidden mail boxes or boxes that are not mail boxes but some other type of receptacle, fill out a directional card. Alley stops or vacant houses, fill out a card. Odd park points or strange delivery order, map it on a directional card. All of the above circumstances may be second nature to you now if you have been on a route for a while but recall your first time carrying it. Think of all the time you wasted struggling to deal with all the oddities of the route. All that time could have been saved if someone had filled out some directional cards.

Filling out the cards benefits everyone. If you call in sick tomorrow, someone will still deliver your route. It could be a CCA or a veteran carrier who has never done it before. The directional cards will help them provide great service to your customers. The cards will also prevent a stack of mail for you to deal with when you come back because they couldn't figure out how to deliver it. It's a win, win.

Next time you have a few spare minutes, please look over your route and see if it could benefit from some new or updated directional cards. Your fellow carriers will thank you for it!

What is the Mutual Benefit Association?

T he U.S. Letter Carriers Mutual Benefit Association (MBA) was formed by the NALC in 1892 to provide the membership with benefits available through the combined strength of all NALC members. Today, that membership strength is some 280,000 men and women. Because of our members’ support, the MBA has been able to assemble a comprehensive insurance package that offers to NALC members life insurance, hospital confinement insurance and deferred annuity products.

The MBA portfolio of products includes:

• Retirement Savings Plan—An annuity product to supplement retirement income. Available as a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, immediate or non-qualified deferred annuity.

• CCA Retirement Savings Plan – An opportunity to start saving for retirement before becoming career.

• Hospital Plus—A hospital confinement policy.

• MBA Life Paid Up at Age 65—Whole-life insurance policy paid up at age 65.

• MBA Life Paid Up at Age 90—Whole-life insurance policy paid up at age 90.

• MBA 20 Pay Life Policy—20-year premium payment whole-life insurance.

• Independence—One-time premium payment wholelife insurance.

• MBA 10 Year Renewable and Convertible Term Life— Term life insurance.

For more information on the MBA plans or an application, call the MBA toll-free at 800-424-5184 Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET, or call 202-638-4318, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. You may also get information about the MBA and our products by going to nalc.org.