SAG Pension & Health Plans Guide
A guide to understanding pension and health benefits available through SAG-AFTRA
Overview
The SAG Pension and Health Plans Guide is a resource that explains the pension and health insurance benefits available to eligible SAG-AFTRA members. Understanding these benefits is essential for union actors planning their long-term financial security and healthcare coverage.
The guide covers eligibility thresholds, which are based on annual earnings from covered employment, and explains the different levels of coverage available. It also details the pension plan's vesting requirements and benefit calculation formulas.
How It Works
Health coverage through SAG-AFTRA is one of the most valuable benefits of union membership, but meeting the earnings threshold can be challenging, especially for newer members. Understanding the requirements helps actors set informed income goals each year.
The guide itself is a free resource available to all SAG-AFTRA members. The health plan requires meeting specific earnings thresholds, and pension benefits vest after a defined number of qualifying years.
Who Uses It
Every SAG-AFTRA member should familiarize themselves with the pension and health plan details early in their career. Tracking your covered earnings throughout the year helps you strategize about which jobs to pursue to meet benefit thresholds. The pension and health plans are administered separately from SAG-AFTRA itself by the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and the SAG-Producers Pension Plan, each with its own eligibility requirements and benefit structures. For many working actors, qualifying for SAG-AFTRA health insurance represents a major career milestone and provides peace of mind that is difficult to quantify in purely financial terms. Understanding the earnings thresholds — which can change from year to year — is essential for setting realistic income goals and making informed decisions about which jobs to pursue.
Pricing & Plans
The SAG Pension and Health Plans Guide is a free resource available to all SAG-AFTRA members through the union's website and member services. There is no cost to access the information, and SAG-AFTRA periodically hosts informational webinars and in-person sessions to help members understand their benefits. As of 2025, qualifying for SAG-AFTRA health coverage requires earning approximately $26,470 or more in covered employment during a base earnings period, though this threshold is subject to change. The pension plan requires ten years of vesting credit — earned by working at least one day in covered employment during each qualifying year — before benefits become payable at retirement age. These earnings thresholds and vesting requirements represent real financial targets that actors should factor into their career planning and job selection decisions. Understanding these numbers early in your career gives you concrete goals to work toward rather than vague aspirations about union benefits.
Pros & Cons
What's Great
The SAG-AFTRA health plan is widely regarded as one of the best health insurance options available to actors, offering comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage at a fraction of what comparable individual market plans would cost. The pension plan provides a defined benefit that, once vested, guarantees retirement income regardless of market fluctuations, which is increasingly rare in the modern economy. Having access to a clear, authoritative guide helps demystify a benefits system that many members find confusing, particularly regarding the distinction between the health plan's annual qualification period and the pension plan's cumulative vesting requirements. The guide empowers actors to take a proactive approach to their financial planning by giving them concrete earnings targets to aim for each year. Union health coverage also provides stability that allows actors to take creative risks — like pursuing lower-paying but artistically fulfilling projects — without jeopardizing their healthcare. The pension benefit, while requiring patience to vest, represents long-term financial security that few freelance professions offer.
What Could Be Better
The earnings threshold for health plan qualification is high enough that many working SAG-AFTRA members — particularly those who are newer to the union or who work primarily in lower-paying categories — struggle to qualify in any given year, which can be discouraging. The guide can be dense and difficult to parse, with technical language about base earnings periods, benefit levels, and vesting schedules that may confuse members who are not accustomed to reading benefits documentation. The pension plan's ten-year vesting requirement means that actors who leave the industry or have extended periods of inactivity before reaching the threshold may never receive pension benefits despite years of contributions. Health plan eligibility is reassessed annually, so actors who qualify one year may lose coverage the next if their earnings dip, creating a stressful cycle of uncertainty. The guide does not always clearly explain what happens when actors fall just short of the earnings threshold or what alternative coverage options are available during gaps. Additionally, the benefits structure can change through labor negotiations, which means the specific numbers and rules in any given version of the guide may become outdated.
Our Recommendation
Every SAG-AFTRA member should read the pension and health plans guide as soon as they join the union — understanding these benefits early gives you the best chance of making strategic career decisions that lead to qualification. It is particularly important for members approaching the health plan earnings threshold to track their covered earnings closely throughout the year, as knowing exactly how close you are can inform decisions about whether to pursue additional work in the final months. Members who have been in the union for several years without qualifying for health coverage should not give up — use the guide to understand exactly what types of work count toward the threshold and focus your efforts accordingly. If you find the guide confusing, contact SAG-AFTRA member services directly for a one-on-one explanation of your specific situation, as they can access your earnings records and provide personalized guidance. For actors who do not qualify for union health coverage, compare the alternatives described in the Actor's Health Insurance Guide resource on this site.
Pro Tips
Request your SAG-AFTRA earnings statement at least quarterly so you always know exactly where you stand relative to the health plan qualification threshold — do not wait until the end of the year to discover you fell short. If you are close to the threshold in the final months of the earnings period, actively seek out SAG-AFTRA covered work to push yourself over the line, as even a single booking could make the difference between a year of comprehensive coverage and a year without it. Understand which types of work generate the highest covered earnings — principal roles in television and film typically generate more than background, commercial, or voiceover work — and factor this into your job selection strategy. Start tracking your pension vesting years from the beginning of your career, as each year you work even one day of covered employment counts toward the ten-year requirement. Set up automatic notifications through the SAG-AFTRA website for any changes to the health plan earnings threshold or pension vesting requirements, as these can change during contract negotiations. Discuss your benefits situation with an entertainment-specialized accountant or financial advisor who can help you optimize your earnings strategy for maximum benefits qualification.