Hi all,
I will turn 55 in May 2022. At that point, I become eligible for payouts from two small pensions. For the single-life annuity option, I could receive a total of about $300 a month at age 55 or $600 a month at age 65. I am married and of course the joint-and-survivor option is less. The pension plans have no lump-sum options. There are no adjustments for inflation.
One of my former employers went bankrupt and the pension is administered by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Is that a bad or a good thing?
What would you do? Would you start taking the money or wait till you're 65? I'm seriously contemplating taking the money and investing it in a brokerage account. I might think differently if the pensions were adjusted for inflation. I like my odds in the stock market better, particularly with one of the employers going bankrupt. (The other might soon follow.)
I'm angling toward retirement but will not retire completely. My wife likes her job and we're probably firmly in the 22% federal tax bracket, regardless of what I do.
Interested in any thoughts, particularly from those who have been in similar positions. Thanks.
I will turn 55 in May 2022. At that point, I become eligible for payouts from two small pensions. For the single-life annuity option, I could receive a total of about $300 a month at age 55 or $600 a month at age 65. I am married and of course the joint-and-survivor option is less. The pension plans have no lump-sum options. There are no adjustments for inflation.
One of my former employers went bankrupt and the pension is administered by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Is that a bad or a good thing?
What would you do? Would you start taking the money or wait till you're 65? I'm seriously contemplating taking the money and investing it in a brokerage account. I might think differently if the pensions were adjusted for inflation. I like my odds in the stock market better, particularly with one of the employers going bankrupt. (The other might soon follow.)
I'm angling toward retirement but will not retire completely. My wife likes her job and we're probably firmly in the 22% federal tax bracket, regardless of what I do.
Interested in any thoughts, particularly from those who have been in similar positions. Thanks.