Local 728's negotiated group life benefit provides basic death benefit coverage for active members — in a range from the low tens of thousands up into the mid-hundred-thousands depending on rank, tier, and CBA vintage. Your Summary Plan Description has your actual number — and Justin is happy to pull it with you on a free 15-minute call.
That's real value. But three structural gaps exist in virtually every union group plan — including this one.
For most Local 728 retirees, group life benefits step down substantially at 65 and end entirely at a specified age beyond that. The exact schedule is in your Summary Plan Description.
If you transfer, change contractors, or leave the trade for any reason, Local 728 group coverage doesn't travel with you. You typically have a narrow conversion window with higher-than-market rates.
Most working families need 8–10× annual income in total death benefit. Local 728's group plan provides 1–2× — it fills the floor but leaves the room empty.
IBEW Local 728 is headquartered on SE 24th Street in Fort Lauderdale and represents the Inside electrical workforce across Broward County and the surrounding South Florida inside jurisdiction. Per the IBEW's official Florida jurisdiction map, 728 is the Inside local covering Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, and most of Broward's major municipal construction markets. Adjacent Inside jurisdictions are held by Local 349 (Miami-Dade) to the south and Local 728 extends up toward West Palm Beach on the northern edge, with overlap into Broward's unincorporated growth areas.
What makes 728's work profile distinctive is the density of high-rise, mixed-use, hospitality, and data-center build in South Florida over the last decade. A 728 journeyman wireman may spend a full year on a single 40-story condo project, move to an airport terminal buildout, then to hospital work in Plantation or Coral Springs — different contractors, different check stubs, same membership. Group life insurance that's tied to one of those contractors ends when the job ends, and the gap between jobs is exactly when a family is most exposed.
Broward's housing economics make the coverage-sizing math heavier than most U.S. markets. Median Fort Lauderdale metro home values are in the high $500,000s, and insurance, taxes, and HOA carrying costs on a Broward condo or single-family home push monthly expense well above the national median. Any serious coverage conversation for a Local 728 member with a family starts well north of $500,000 in total death benefit.
Free 15-minute call. He'll pull your group summary, calculate your real need, and show you what filling the gap costs at your age. No exam, no pressure.