PBGC will pay you the greater of your Guaranteed Benefit or your plan benefit to the extent it is funded by plan assets.
Keep in mind that the Guaranteed Benefit is the minimum amount PBGC will pay, regardless of the amount of assets available in your plan. If we determine that your benefit from plan assets is greater than your Guaranteed Benefit, we will pay you that larger amount.
In order for a benefit to be guaranteed, you must have been eligible for that benefit before the plan terminated. Also, for eligible participants we add a 4022(c) benefit which is an additional amount based on what PBGC recovers from the plan sponsor.
In this section we will discuss the three main legal limits to the amount of a pension benefit that PBGC can guarantee. These limits are the Accrued-at-Normal Limitation, the Maximum Guaranteeable Benefit (or MGB), and the Phase-In Limitation.
There is another limit called the Aggregate Limit, that applies only if you receive benefits from more than one plan that PBGC has trusteed. If you're a participant affected by this limit, we will provide you with information later to help you understand your benefit calculations.
