Did your employer have min retirement age?

[badatmath]

Wasn't sure where to put this question just wondering. My employer has a minimum age to be able to leave with reduced pension. Years of service do not matter. You can of course disregard this but you not getting any retiree benefits if you do!

 

[Jerry1]

Where I worked, retiree healthcare had a minimum. I had to be 55. I think they changed it for new hires awhile back and I think they need to be 60. Pension was a vested benefit, so there was no age stipulation.

 

[atmsmshr]

No longer offered health care at mega required at least age 55 at least 10 years service, and max benefit when age + service reached 90. I was grandfathered into that benefit.

Non cola pension and 401k company match required 5 years to vest.

 

[gauss]

As long as I worked there the minimum years to become vested in the pension (5 years) then I would eligible to receive my accrued amount regardless of what age I left the employer. If I were to start drawing the pension before normal retirement age, the it would be adjusted/reduced for the age at which the pension draw begins.

I believe that this is a matter of Federal law (ERISA) and applies to virtually all private sector pension plans

 

[candrew]

5 years of service were required with my previous employer for vesting. Age 55 was the minimum to begin drawing pension benefits at a reduced rate.

 

[Bamaman]

With 55 being the minimum age to retire at so many places, it makes you think that government regulations are stipulating the age.

Even though our megacorp had some 30 year employees that were not 55, they couldn't start drawing a pension until age 55. And even then, they were thrown into the life expectance table and got reduced benefits due to their age. But there again, no employee in our company ever worked until 65 years of age.

 

[jfn111]

With 55 being the minimum age to retire at so many places, it makes you think that government regulations are stipulating the age.

Even though our megacorp had some 30 year employees that were not 55, they couldn't start drawing a pension until age 55. And even then, they were thrown into the life expectance table and got reduced benefits due to their age. But there again, no employee in our company ever worked until 65 years of age.

I was one of those. I hit 30 years of service at 52 years of age. Our megacorp required 55 years of age and at least 25 years of service for full retirement benefits. I hung in until 55 and left with 33 years of service.

 

[cooch96]

59.5 at my megacorp. I toiled there for 6 or 7 years until that was made fully clear. I assumed I’d have access once I was vested.

 

[RunningBum]

I left my first employer after just over 10 years and will get a reduced pension. I think I needed at least 5 or maybe 10 years. They might have cashed it out rather than get nothing.

My second and last employer did not have a pension. I hit an age issue during a work force reduction offer where I think you needed to be at least 55 old to get a sweet departure gift. I was 48 at the time, and left with a much, much smaller deal a year later.

 

[badatmath]

Guess I was not terribly clear (shock) in that I am vested it just we have min age to draw and if you leave before that no benefits for you. Why they try to tie insurance to drawing pension I have no idea.

 

[Mark1]

At my megacorp, to be eligible for full pension required 80 Points (Points = Yrs service + Age), and a minimum age of 50. Therefore, provided you hired in young enough, you could leave with full benefits anytime in your 50's. However, because the defined benefit pension assumed a 60 year old departure date, if you left and started your pension while in your 50's it was discounted to make up for those additional pension payments you received.


I left 11 days after reaching 80 points at age 54.5.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

My employer requires 70 points- I will have them in 168 days. No pension though, just a retirement package.

 

[USGrant1962]

Yes, but. At Megacorp it was 55, but no pension or retiree healthcare coverage so kind of meaningless.

I retired at 55 years and 4 days old. Because I "retired" instead of quit I:

• Was able to run out my PTO instead of lump sum, keeping benefits for 3 more months
• Access some private healthcare marketplace that is exactly the same plans as my state ACA marketplace
• Attend a retirement dinner and get another watch - I don't even like that one, my 20-year and 25-year watches are better

So like I said, yes but almost meaningless.

OH - and Mega's 401(k) does have the 55 Rule.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

Where I worked it was age 50 to collect a reduced pension. If you retire earlier than that you may or may not be eligible to collect at 50 depending on a few factors.

I think most employees just wait until long after that to get a better deal as the pension itself while welcome and getting fewer every year, wasn't the most generous.

 

[SteveNU]

Rule of 85 at my place. You had to be 55 with at least 30 years of service (55+30=85) to get a full pension. I left at 56, worked one extra month just to make sure but took vacation for that last month!

 

[Amethyst]

CSRS, Civil Service Retirement System, was age 55/30 years to get 55% of your high-3 salary (staying longer = higher percentage up to 65/80). There were situations where you could retire earlier (certain occupations, agency being RIFd, etc.) Also, I seem to recall there was a 50/20 option, although I don't recall how it worked.

CSRS has been gone so long that there is nobody left to "early-retire"

Wasn't sure where to put this question just wondering. My employer has a minimum age to be able to leave with reduced pension. Years of service do not matter. You can of course disregard this but you not getting any retiree benefits if you do!

 

[MRG]

Pension? Healthcare? From my employer?

Nothing, I left after 29 years of service and insisted I was retiring. None of Megacorp's forms had retired on them but the HR person wrote it in.

 

[gerntz]

There was a minimum of 50 years of age, but that came with like 25 years of service; i.e., Rule of 75.

 

[ziggy29]

When I started at my first Megacorp, you needed 85 points, BUT with an overriding minimum age of 55. They abolished the 85 point "full" retirement before I was 30, though reduced retirement as early as 55 remained, and before long the pension was frozen as well. And not long after *that*, so was I. (But I am due a puny pension for 11 years of service. It might buy a basket of groceries per month by then, but better than nothing.)

My second Megacorp didn't have a pension or retiree medical so you just resigned when you were done (except for the 5 year vesting on the 401K match).

 

[Fireup2020]

55 with 25 years of service...if 25 years of service - a reduction of the percentage of your high 3 salary years under age 55 (categorized as "early retirement"). Happily taking a reduced percentage! If you came into state employment in past few years, age 60 is new age for pension eligibility. Pension, life insurance, and eligible for health insurance (not taking since using military retirement benefits, which are MUCH less expensive!)

 

[Music Lover]

55 with at least 30 years to avoid a penalty, although one could retire earlier but be penalized.

I took a year leave without pay just before turning 54 and then officially retired at 55 with 34+ years.

 

[CaptTom]

Rule of 85 at my place. You had to be 55 with at least 30 years of service (55+30=85) to get a full pension. I left at 56, worked one extra month just to make sure but took vacation for that last month!

Identical here. Rule of 85. I left at 56, too. I kept my "OMY" promise.

There was also a "Rule of 90" which gave you the "full" health care benefit. By the time I left, "full" had been watered down to a fixed amount, which was a fraction of the true full cost. And the penalty (extra cost for health plan) for each year you left early wasn't significant enough to be a deciding factor.

I guess, years ago, there really was a fully-paid retiree health plan. Those days are long gone. And those of us who are still due a pension are dwindling down. New employees haven't had that for years.

The OMY temptation was strong. Wait until the next calendar year and you get a bump in pension. Wait until Spring when bonuses come out so you don't leave that money on the table. Hang on through June to get your five weeks of vacation pay. Wait until your anniversary month and you get another bump in pension. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

 

[NW-Bound]

Rule of 85 at my place. You had to be 55 with at least 30 years of service (55+30=85) to get a full pension. I left at 56, worked one extra month just to make sure but took vacation for that last month!

One of my former megacorps was similar. Your age plus years of service had to be above 85, and the age must be above 55 or something like that.

This means that the earliest age for retirement is 55, and one had to be working there since the age of 25. Basically, you had to be there your entire working life.

Regarding retirement healthcare, they eventually abolished that and gave retirees some money for them to go buy their own. I did not follow that closely, because I was way too far from retirement to be really concerned with it. There was a class lawsuit, but I do not know how it turned out.

 

[jazz4cash]

CSRS, Civil Service Retirement System, was age 55/30 years to get 55% of your high-3 salary (staying longer = higher percentage up to 65/80). There were situations where you could retire earlier (certain occupations, agency being RIFd, etc.) Also, I seem to recall there was a 50/20 option, although I don't recall how it worked.

CSRS has been gone so long that there is nobody left to "early-retire"

Oh Gosh. Everybody thinks CSRS is so great ( and it is actually), but FERS is pretty good too compared to almost everything else. All my Family is CSRS and they laud it over me all the time but what gets overlooked is that CSRS requires a significant employee contribution and no Soc Sec benefit in most cases.

When I started looking into my DB plan at Megacorp (as it was being frozen, grandfathered and eliminated for new hires) I realized it was a FREE benefit. I like Free! It also had an optional contribution with a phenomenal payout. Our plan was 85 points or age 55 w/ 10yrs. The age 55 benefit was severely reduced.

 

[Car-Guy]

At 55 and a minimum of 15 years of service we could "retire" and receive a 3/4 discounted pension and full medical benefits. A lump sum was not an option at 55. At 60, the pension was no longer discounted "or" you could now take it as a lump sum. Certain company "discount programs" would continue for life as a retiree.

Clearly my Mega corp wanted "most employees" to stay until 60. The sweet spot "as we called it" was between 60 and 62. After 62 the retirement calculation actually plateaued.