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View Poll Results: Do you have any of the following?
Military pension 14 6.39%
Other federal or state pension 67 30.59%
Private company defined benefit pension 76 34.70%
None of the above 82 37.44%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 219. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 06-07-2012, 07:53 PM   #21
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Private defined benefit here. I supplement it with about the same amount from savings. Fifteen months into retirement it is working well.
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Old 06-08-2012, 05:02 PM   #22
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Private DB pension here. Foolishly threw away 8 and 1/2 years when I changed Megacorp jobs back in 1980. Back then, you had to put in 10 years to be vested. But after 25+ years with the last Megacorp, I retired in 2008 with a "decent" un-COLA-ed DB pension which has covered approx 75% of my living expenses for the last 4 and 1/2 years !
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Old 06-08-2012, 06:43 PM   #23
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Nothing here wish i had a 25 dollar one.
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Old 06-08-2012, 07:50 PM   #24
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No pensions for us - out here DB schemes are almost unheard of outside of govenment employees and almost everyone gets by on DC schemes and/or personal savings.
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Old 06-08-2012, 08:03 PM   #25
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I checked "other." We have rental property which provides an income stream, savings, and SS. Also, we have a part-time business for now. We consider ourselves very fortunate.

I have no heartburn about people receiving pensions. The 60's and 70's were a different era in which one could count on a good future retirement, especially if you worked for the government. Sadly, no more....
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Old 06-08-2012, 08:33 PM   #26
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I will have a COLA'd DB federal employee pension once I retire, whenever that may be. I'm actually eligible in 7 months, when I reach age 55. I will have 36 years at that point.

At age 60 (5 yrs) I will begin drawing a military reserve retirement (pension) which will also be COLA'd, that will be approximately $15000 per yr net, before deductions for tax & survivor's bens. I'd be really lucky if it was close to $1000 per month net, maybe slightly less.

At 62, I'll get a minimal SS payment of around $250 or so per month. That's about it for my pension income situation.

Wife will get SS starting in 2022.

We have some savings, and are trying to determine whether to spend some of it to avoid having a mortgage after retirement, since the pension income's not going to be all that much.
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Old 06-08-2012, 09:34 PM   #27
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Very interesting results. Based on what I read on this forum I would have thought there would not be so many private company DB pensions.
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Old 06-08-2012, 09:46 PM   #28
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4 private pensions, all non-COLA, 2 from the UK.

On year 1 of ER they made up 62% of our spending, the rest comes from our investments. (psst... Wellesley)

None of the companies continue to offer DB pensions. (The company I retired from in 2010 stopped their DB pension plan this month).
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Old 06-08-2012, 10:47 PM   #29
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rescueme View Post
I took the question at face value. What do you have?

Poll dosen't alow for multiple answers, anyway ...
Are you making a distinction between what my DH has and what I have? We don't make that distinction as we live in a community property state so even though it is in his name, it still also belongs to me.
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Old 06-08-2012, 11:52 PM   #30
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No pensions for us. We started our professional lives relatively late (me at 30, DH at 40), and have only had 403bs and IRAs available to us. And because there were many years when we didn't really get any tax advantage to contirbuting to the 403bs, there was a span of several years where we kept much of our savings in cash, as we were saving up to buy a home. But since 2007 we have been contributing the max, though, which in our case comes to over 40k/year --and over 50k/year including employer match on the 403b and our Roth contributions (where we put any and all US earned income -- usually 4-6k/year).

A pension would be nice if you are in a field/work for an employer where you are happy to be in it for the long term. If my current employer offered a pension I would be happy, as I am quite happy here. Not sure I'd be willing to endure the frustrations of working for the government in order to get a pension, though -- I work as a government contractor now, and see a lot of dysfunction and unhappiness in my USG-employed colleagues. Our organization has its own dysfunction, of course, but overall it seems to be a better place to work, at least my particular office is that way.
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Old 06-09-2012, 12:17 AM   #31
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I start my private DB pension in a couple of months although I have been retired for about 6 years. The pensipn is very large ( mid 6 figures) and will represent about half our spending. The last 6 years have been financed through incentive compensation awards(mostly options). Certainly not typical, I know. It has been quite a planning exercise to forecst ultimate portfolio size given the leveraged nature of the options and the long period of cash outs coupled with relatively high spending over the period. The pension really has been a key part of the whole plan.
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Old 06-09-2012, 03:43 AM   #32
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No pension for me. But I'm in illinois, so I can still quit my private job and get a public job and probably retire with a full pension in less than a year.
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Old 06-09-2012, 05:24 AM   #33
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No pensions here.
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Old 06-09-2012, 05:46 AM   #34
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Okay, I'll go out on a limb here. I get a COLA'd county government pension, we stay in the group health insurance plan for 30% of the premium, and that includes prescription coverage and most dental work. I paid 7.5% of income into that and 7.5% into SS, which I haven't applied for yet. Medical insurance becomes secondary to Medicare at 65.

When I retired I choose a spousal benefit option, and an option that at age 62 the county pension dropped by the then-estimated SS benefit, which turned out to be low by about $200/month. The idea was to keep a more-or-less level income.

And after reading all the posts in this and other threads here, I am very, very, grateful to have all that. All those midnight shifts are paying off.

BTW, just like the federal system, the county does not offer that plan any more, and for the same reasons.
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Old 06-09-2012, 06:01 AM   #35
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No pensions, all income from stock dividends, mostly in IRAs accessed via 72t.
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Old 06-09-2012, 07:27 AM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsmeow View Post
Are you making a distinction between what my DH has and what I have?
Yes; for instance, DW has too small DB pensions that start in less than a year, but they are single life with no spousal benefit (her decision, to maximize her benefit and also she knows that I don't need the money if she passes first). I have no claim nor intend to on that income and I'll "sign off" on the paperwork shortly before the pensions start. It's no different than when she signed off on my 401(k) assets when I retired, that "allowed" me to invest (in this case, an SPIA) as I wished. Of course the SPIA is joint, so she will get full payments assuming I pass first. Just because you are in a community property state does not mean that you don't have "singular investment options", assuming you remain married (and alive of course).

Just because you have a pension (under any "system") it depends on the condition of that pension or any other retirement income.

Of course, she reminds me, "what's hers is hers, and what's mine is hers ". I guess that's just an adjustment to the cost of loving. BTW, she's worth it...
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Old 06-09-2012, 07:45 AM   #37
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DH and i each have two COLA'd pensions. His are $210.00 and $1661.00.
My first checks are due the end of this month and should be about $164.00 and $2000.00 (2300+ before high-deductible insurance premium is automatically deducted).

AR teachers have 6% of gross pay taken out for state retirement.
We will be tapping into 403b until DH starts SS in a few years. We have places to go and people to see.
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Old 06-09-2012, 08:40 AM   #38
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So the poll results imply that most people considering ER have defined benefit pension plans. Of course that has to be convolved with the fact that the demographic on here is probably biased to 50 and above and DB plans were a lot more common during their careers than they are now......also if i asked the same question 50 years from now no one would have a DB plan, but would the number of people considering ER have fallen dramatically because of the death of the DB pension?

Does the zeitgeist of ever increasing retirement age suggest that this ER forum will end up with very few members.......
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Old 06-09-2012, 08:42 AM   #39
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Does the zeitgeist of ever increasing retirement age suggest that this ER forum will end up with very few members.......
OTOH, arguments will be fewer and site response time will be shorter. There's a silver lining in every situation ...

BTW, on a personal note I don't believe that there will be any less ER folks. As in all things, "nature" will find a way...
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Old 06-09-2012, 08:46 AM   #40
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Originally Posted by ohyes View Post
DH and i each have two COLA'd pensions. His are $210.00 and $1661.00.
My first checks are due the end of this month and should be about $164.00 and $2000.00 (2300+ before high-deductible insurance premium is automatically deducted).

AR teachers have 6% of gross pay taken out for state retirement.
We will be tapping into 403b until DH starts SS in a few years. We have places to go and people to see.
In MA state workers make 9% (or 11% if they earn over $35k) mandatory contributions to the state pension plan. MA kicks in 5%. Medicare tax is also taken out of the paycheck, but not SS tax, so MA state worked do not receive federal SS when they retire.
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