For many IBEW members, the national pension is the National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF), a multiemployer plan run jointly with the National Electrical Contractors Association.
Where the IBEW national pension stands
The National Electrical Benefit Fund is a multiemployer defined benefit plan that the IBEW and the National Electrical Contractors Association set up in 1946 for electrical construction workers. Covered employers contribute 3% of covered employees' gross labor payroll for the Base Pension Benefit, and employees don't contribute. NEBF's 2025 annual funding notice puts it in the green zone (not endangered or critical), 95.61% funded as of January 1, 2025.
Retirement eligibility
Under the January 2025 NEBF Summary Plan Description, the Normal Retirement Benefit starts at 65. If you're vested and worked at least 300 hours for a covered employer in any of the seven calendar years before your effective date, you can retire at 62, 63 or 64 with no age reduction. Without that recent work, the Reduced Early Retirement Benefit at 62 to 64 is cut 6.67% for each year under 65: 20% at 62, 13.33% at 63, 6.67% at 64. A Reduced Early Retirement Benefit is also available at 60 or 61 if you meet a recent-work test, cut 9.25% for each year under 62 (18.5% at 60, 9.25% at 61). The 2025 pension rate is $33 a month per Base Pension Credit, so 30 credits pays $990 a month at 65.
Lump sums and insurer transfers
We found no primary source for an NEBF lump sum offer. Payment options are listed in the NEBF Summary Plan Description.
PBGC coverage
NEBF is a multiemployer plan, so it's covered by PBGC's multiemployer program, which has its own guarantee formula and much lower limits than the single-employer program: it tops out at $16.25 a month per year of service, so $5,850 a year for 30 years. Your plan's annual funding notice reports its funded status.
Social Security
Electrical construction jobs under IBEW contracts pay into Social Security, so the Windfall Elimination Provision never applied to these pensions, and WEP was repealed anyway for benefits payable after December 2023. If the pension covers your basic expenses, delaying Social Security toward 70 raises the one income source that adjusts for inflation. Model it with the Social Security calculator.
The IBEW employer page lists the filings behind every date and dollar figure here.