Eligibility and Enrolling

To Enroll in the Plan
Contact the Merrill Lynch Participant Service Center at 1-800-228-4015 or access Benefits OnLine, Merrill Lynch’s website, at www.benefits.ml.com.

Eligibility

You are eligible to enroll in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe (MPT) 401(k) Retirement Plan if you:

• are an active team member of MPTN, and
• have completed 90 days of employment.

You are not eligible to participate in the Plan if you are a nonresident alien who receives no earned income from MPTN, if you are a leased team member, or if you are a team member covered under a collective bargaining agreement that does not provide for coverage under the Plan. 

Enrolling

You must enroll in the MPT 401(k) Retirement Plan in order to participate in the Plan and to be eligible for MPTN matching contributions. You can enroll in the Plan any time after you complete 90 days of employment with MPTN.

To enroll, contact the Merrill Lynch Participant Service Center at 1-800-228-4015 or access Merrill Lynch’s website, Benefits OnLine, at www.benefits.ml.com.

• The Participant Service Center offers the choice of using the automated Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System or speaking directly with a Participant Service Representative.
  • The IVR System is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
  • Participant Service Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Eastern Time, on all business days that the New York Stock Exchange is open.
• Benefits OnLine is Merrill Lynch’s secure website for enrolling or accessing your account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Naming a Beneficiary

As part of the enrollment process, you should name a beneficiary, or beneficiaries, to receive your Plan benefits if you die.

You may name anyone as your beneficiary. However, if you are married, as defined under federal law, your spouse is automatically your beneficiary. To name someone other than your spouse, you must have your spouse’s written, notarized consent on the Beneficiary Designation form provided by the Plan. If you name a beneficiary and are later married, your new spouse automatically becomes your beneficiary unless you have your spouse’s notarized consent to name someone else. (For beneficiary designation purposes, the term spouse is expanded to include a participant’s same-sex spouse.)

If you die without having named a beneficiary, your Plan vested account balance is automatically paid in full to your surviving spouse. If there is no spouse, payment will be made to your descendants, in shares per stirpes, or if there are none to your estate.

Online Beneficiary Designations/Updates

Entering beneficiary information online allows you the convenience of reviewing and updating designations at any time. To designate your beneficiary online, visit www.benefits.ml.com.

You may still call the Participant Service Center at 1-800-228-4015 to request a Beneficiary Designation form be mailed to you.  Mail the completed form to Merrill Lynch at the address on the form. Merrill Lynch will scan this information into Benefits OnLine. You will be able to view the scanned form online but will not be able to make changes online. The form can also be obtained from Human Resources.