The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced on Nov. 9 that it has updated the ERISA Section 4044 mortality table for 2024 valuations. 
How the Tables Are Used
ERISA Section 4044 Mortality Table. This table is used:
- to determine liabilities and the value of annuities when a single-employer plan terminates involuntarily or when it is in distress; and
- when a multiemployer plan incurs a mass withdrawal.
This table provides statistics for use regarding male and female plan participants. It also makes a distinction between those who are healthy, those who are disabled and eligible for Social Security disability benefits, and those who are disabled but are not eligible for Social Security disability benefits. It provides data regarding those who are age 15 and above.
ERISA Section 4050 Mortality Table. This is a unisex version of the ERISA Section 4044 Table. Like the ERISA Section 4044 Mortality Table, it provides data regarding those who are age 15 and above.
ERISA Section 4050 Mortality Table is used in specified situations to determine the benefit transfer amount under the PBGC’s Missing Participants Program.
When a plan ends, it must make arrangements to provide benefits for missing participants. For defined benefit plans, that typically will take place through the PBGC’s Missing Participants Program or an insurance company that provides annuities; for defined contribution plans, through the PBGC’s Missing Participants Program or a private financial institution.
The PBGC in a final rule it issued on Dec. 17, 2022, said that Section 4050 of ERISA gives it authority to prescribe regulations regarding missing persons who are owed benefits under terminated retirement plans, including rules on (1) the amounts to be paid to and from the program and (2) how to search for missing participants and beneficiaries.
Additional Information
The HTML and Excel versions of the 2024 mortality tables are available on the PBGC’s ERISA Section 4044/4050 Mortality Table webpage here.
Past years. The ERISA Section 4044 Mortality Tables and the ERISA Section 4050 Mortality Tables for the years 2008-2023 are available here.
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