NYC Carpenter Union retirees come in

[Beachgrl]

I was discussing the pension plan with another wife of a carpenter who just retired, and apparantly there are a few options for payout. I asked her which they chose. She said the one that gives a lot of money in the beginning then tapers down. I asked why she chose that option. Her answer was sobering: the life expectancy of these men after retirement (55 to collect) is not great.

I was a little taken aback by that and wasn't expecting it.

I have not researched this yet, dh tells me he knows all the options and we don't have to look at this yet (he is 48) and we plan on retiring when he's 55.

My question to any NYC carpenter retirees out there (or anyone in a similarly labor intensive field): what option did you/are you choosing for your pension payout? I'd like to hear other opinions. Thanks in advance.

 

[rprun54]

Sheet Metal Workers. We took the 100% husband-wife option. With pop up feature. Wife gets 100% if I pass first. If she passes first , mine pops up to the amount I would have received if I had not chosen the 100%.


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[brett]

I seem to recall that GM offered a buyout to it's salaried workers-even those who had already retired and we drawing their DB's.

It was not offered to the hourly employees. The reason was apparently longevity. The salaried workers had a longer life expectancy.

 

[ERD50]

... Her answer was sobering: the life expectancy of these men after retirement (55 to collect) is not great.
...

I'd want to see the source of that before making any decisions on it. At any rate, averages often don't mean much for any particular individual (like the stat that the average family has 2.6 children - but no one has 2.6 children).

Plus, Life Expectancy stats are often misunderstood. You want to know the life expectancy of carpenters/laborers at age 55. If you just look at LE of laborers, that will include the ones that died on the job, bring the averages down.

-ERD50

 

[Beachgrl]

Sheet Metal Workers. We took the 100% husband-wife option. With pop up feature. Wife gets 100% if I pass first. If she passes first , mine pops up to the amount I would have received if I had not chosen the 100%.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

Thanks for the reply. I think this is a good option.

 

[Beachgrl]

I seem to recall that GM offered a buyout to it's salaried workers-even those who had already retired and we drawing their DB's.

It was not offered to the hourly employees. The reason was apparently longevity. The salaried workers had a longer life expectancy.

Interesting. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Beachgrl]

I'd want to see the source of that before making any decisions on it. At any rate, averages often don't mean much for any particular individual (like the stat that the average family has 2.6 children - but no one has 2.6 children).

Plus, Life Expectancy stats are often misunderstood. You want to know the life expectancy of carpenters/laborers at age 55. If you just look at LE of laborers, that will include the ones that died on the job, bring the averages down.

-ERD50

According to dh, the way they can figure this out is by the number of checks disbursed/length of time; but again it's an average as you say. Not sure they will give you exact stats on number of checks disbursed and for how long, OR if they'll give you the life expectancy of the carpenters at age 55, but you make good points worthy of bringing up when that meeting happens to discuss benefits. I'll definitely come back to this thread! Thanks again