Maintaining your Beneficiary Designation Form with the Pension Plans is an important aspect of your overall financial planning.
One of the retirement and estate planning errors that you can make is failing to keep your Beneficiary Designation Form updated—either failing to add all your children or leaving loved ones surprised to find an ex-spouse or a deceased relative unintentionally left as the beneficiary.
Even if your will reflects your current wishes, after you die, it is your Beneficiary Designation Form on file with the Plans that determines who receives survivor benefits from the Basic and Supplemental Plans. Regularly reviewing and updating your Beneficiary Designation Form is an important part of ensuring your wishes are followed.
How to Check Your Beneficiary Designation
You should review your beneficiary designation with the Plans routinely, especially after major life events (e.g., marriage, divorce, births, deaths, etc.).
myPHP
You can quickly and easily check your current beneficiaries at any time using the myPHP benefits portal, available at www.dgaplans.org/myPHP. Registered myPHP users can view a listing of their current beneficiaries for the Basic and Supplemental Pension Plans, as well as the amount or percentage allocated to each, on the Pension page (pictured below).
If you have not designated a beneficiary yet, there will be an alert on your myPHP Pension page under the Beneficiaries section.
Beneficiary Designation Reminders
The Plans office includes periodic reminders about missing or outdated beneficiary designations in participant communications. You should use any beneficiary designation reminders to confirm that your beneficiary designations on file with the Plans are consistent with your wishes.
How to Make or Change Your Beneficiary Designation
The Beneficiary Designation Form is available on myPHP on the Documents and Forms page or at www.dgaplans.org/forms/pension for you to download, complete and submit to the Plans office at any time.
In addition to the Beneficiary Designation Form, it is also important to regularly review and update the forms and information below, if applicable:
- HIPAA Authorization Form
- Adult Dependent Authorization Form
- Third-Party Authorization Form
- Contact information (address, phone, etc.)
The authorization forms above give the Plans office permission to discuss certain information with the people you designate, while keeping your contact information updated with the Plans makes sure you stay informed regarding your benefits.
Takeaway
Updating your Beneficiary Designation Form with the Plans is just as important as updating your will. A missing or outdated beneficiary designation can result in delayed benefits or benefits being paid based on default Basic and Supplemental Plan terms rather than your desired wishes.
Make sure to review and update your Beneficiary Designation Form each year and whenever your circumstances change.
