Poll: Do you have a pension?

[Vacation4us]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drake3287 Totally agree. When I started public service 30+ years ago our pay was low enough that no one was ever concerned about how much we'd make in retirement. Fast forward 30 years and it's night and day since I started. I had a fellow employee who's father is a doctor say that we made more than him. Surprisingly he was right. I also agree that most younger public employees have no idea about real world pensions, retirements or the need to save. Us older retirees know darn well at this point how well we have it. If either myself or wife live to age 85, my retirement system will have payed out well over $3,000,000 to us. Age 95 and your looking at close to $5,000,000 Although most public retirement plans have since reeled in benefits to younger employees, it's still a nice plan pension to have.

DH also has a rockin Calpers pension. Worked 31.5 years at a job that wasn’t his first choice but that he ended up loving. But he contributed to that pension, real $$. I think when he retired last November his contribution was in the $420-480k range ( can’t remember exactly because he didn’t choose the option of guaranteed return of the premium).

His pension is 90% of his final pay, we do pay about $3-400/ month for medical,dental, and vision but will have to transfer to Medicare at 65.

I have 2 baby pensions that combined will total $1400/ month in 11 years when I am 65. Since I was a per diem nurse while raising my children my SS will be small too.

I worked hard post divorce from H #1 to pay off my house and save, save, save in my 401k.

DH #2 also had to pay his ex 750k to keep his pension intact.

We feel very blessed but not undeserving. DH favorite saying “choices have consequences and he choose well.”

As 2 first responders we worked hard and neither of us made huge salaries, although as you said by the end our wages were pretty nice.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfn111 Corporate pension around $3,500 per month. No Cola but I was happy I was around when the company still had a pension and got grandfathered in.

Our corp. pension used to be structured so that there was a big loss if you went on the 1st day you qualified. You had to stay several years to get the full pension. BUT each year of service DID add to the total from then on. THEN shortly after I left, they completely changed things - grandfathering the old plan for a couple of years to let folks "out" under the old system. My boss got caught as he had planned to stay a very long time. Turned out he left early too. Otherwise, he would have LOST pension under the new system unless he stayed to 65 IIRC. Megacorp lost one of the good ones when he left. Of course, I was LONG gone by then but YMMV.

[brett]

Our DB pension plan gives the option of a pension annuity in various forms or a commuted value. I know people who, for various good reasons of their own, have selected both.

My DB pension was noncontributory. My employer provided it at no cost to the employee. It was part of the total remuneration package.

It was not as rich as many employee contribution DB plans but I am very appreciative of it. Just one leg in our pension funding chair.

We saved, invested etc. to supplement the pension in the knowledge that we would require more resources to support our life and our plans in retirement.

We have relatives who were in a financial position to save for retirement but never did. They tend to be resentful of those that have a pension, those who saved during their working lives, or those with both.

We cannot imagine retiring with mortages (unless for investment purposes), credit card debt, or car loans. Or no retirement savings.

[monte1022]

This poll is very sobering to me. 66% of the respondents have some sort of defined benefit of varying amounts. At 55yo, I am now wondering if 3m is enough w/o a pension of some sort. We will have 2xSS so there is that. Since I am in OMY mode, perhaps the market gods will deliver another bit to add to the stash in addition to my aggressive savings. I am certainly glad that I never developed a taste for the finer things in life.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monte1022 This poll is very sobering to me. 66% of the respondents have some sort of defined benefit of varying amounts. At 55yo, I am now wondering if 3m is enough w/o a pension of some sort. We will have 2xSS so there is that. Since I am in OMY mode, perhaps the market gods will deliver another bit to add to the stash in addition to my aggressive savings. I am certainly glad that I never developed a taste for the finer things in life.

The theory is that you can take more than 4% between now and when SS kicks in if you need to. If your 2XSS is fairly good, a lot less than 3M would do it for a lot of us. Only you can decide what you need, but many here DO have only savings and can make it on less than 3M. As always, YMMV.

[whatnot]

DH worked at Corp for 37 years. Has a DB pension that was 100% funded by Corp. He also had a 401k with decent Corp match of contributions.
We chose 100% survivor benefit. $50k a year but no COLA.
We feel very fortunate to have this base amount. We both have SS coming as well. DH May start his SS in 2022; he’ll be 64 +.
I plan on my starting my SS at 70, approximately 10 years.
I have longevity on my side of the family and DH does not.
So he’s ready to start collecting. My SS benefit is approximately 6% lower than his so am not relying on claiming spousal benefit.
We are also using a 3% withdrawal rate.

[fourwaystreet]

I get a small non COLA Corp pension from a company that was bought out which I give to the Federal Gov't to lessen my estimated taxes. I also receive 75% of what would have been my DW's state pension (she passed away) I have been receiving this pension along with her very reasonable health care for the pass 15 years.

[Perryinva]

The $60k we get from non contributed pensions is relatively equal to $1.5M invested, w/o ANY survivors benefits. When I file our SS (4.5 more years) combined with be about $60k. We only have about another $1.5 invested & $800k in RE equity. Only $450k of that invested is after tax. The other roughly $1M is pretax, so really only worth like $750-780k. I had to wait until 61 to ER, unlike so many much earlier here.

$3M fully invested especially if mostly after tax, like so many here have, should be more than enough even with no pension, with 2 decent SS’s!!

[CRLLS]

I voted no pension. DW and I both had pensions at earlier jobs. We rolled them over to an IRA when we could. I do have an annuitized LI policy (not quite the same as an annuity) that is essentially the same as a pension. I get $210 per month until I die with 10 year certain.

[mountainsoft]

My wife has a WA state pension. Assuming she retires in 2023 with 100% survivor benefit, it should fund about 63% of our living expenses. The remainder will have to come from our meager retirement savings until we can start collecting SS. I should also have a tiny bit of income from a couple side hustles for the first few years or so.

[karen1972]

I voted yes, they stopped the pension plan shortly after I started, but I still get $170/month immediate annuity no COLA they started paying me in my 30s and $35k lump sum. it wasn't going to change my retirement strategy but its better than nothing.

[skyking1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monte1022 This poll is very sobering to me. 66% of the respondents have some sort of defined benefit of varying amounts. At 55yo, I am now wondering if 3m is enough w/o a pension of some sort. We will have 2xSS so there is that. Since I am in OMY mode, perhaps the market gods will deliver another bit to add to the stash in addition to my aggressive savings. I am certainly glad that I never developed a taste for the finer things in life.

It is not a competition, we are all on the same river going the same direction.
I did a very rough estimate of my pensions at 1.6 millions. I still don't have what you have, and I am not concerned in the least.
It is also something to note that I have never seen anyone post about running out of money here in retirement.

[stepford]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monte1022 This poll is very sobering to me. 66% of the respondents have some sort of defined benefit of varying amounts. At 55yo, I am now wondering if 3m is enough w/o a pension of some sort. We will have 2xSS so there is that. Since I am in OMY mode, perhaps the market gods will deliver another bit to add to the stash in addition to my aggressive savings. I am certainly glad that I never developed a taste for the finer things in life.

If $3M isn't enough would $3.5M really change things? Would $4M? At some point you just have to accept a certain amount of risk or you'll work until you drop. I too followed the OMY path for a few years and now wish I'd spent those years doing something more fun than working.

[Aerides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monte1022 This poll is very sobering to me. 66% of the respondents have some sort of defined benefit of varying amounts. At 55yo, I am now wondering if 3m is enough w/o a pension of some sort. We will have 2xSS so there is that. Since I am in OMY mode, perhaps the market gods will deliver another bit to add to the stash in addition to my aggressive savings. I am certainly glad that I never developed a taste for the finer things in life.

You have to take it in context of this forum. It's a chicken/egg thing. Folks with pensions were more likely to be able to plan for an ER, and quite possibly took pension-paying jobs and careers toward that goal.

Also our forum membership tends to skew a bit higher than the general population, including a large chunk of members who are retired, and/or worked their prime working years when pensions were more common in private businesses.

For the rest of us (GenX and younger) pensions have largely disappeared from Corporate work, staying only in the public sector. That doesn't mean ER is out of reach at all, just different. We gave up pensions and got 401k's instead. Not as good often, but doable.

Fwis I'm younger than you, no pensions, and DH and I retired 5 years ago with less than 3m to start.

[Born2BRetd]

Husband has a full pension and I have a small one. Apart from the pensions, we saved and invested a good portion of our paychecks.

I have gotten tired over the years of people thinking somehow that receiving a government pension is a free ride. Our pensions required employee contributions and I surrendered 13% of my paycheck to my "free ride" pension which also qualified me for the Windfall Exemption so my social security is greatly reduced.

My husband made quite a bit less working for the government than he would have in the private sector. He always kept in mind that private sector employees made more money up front but that it balanced out in the wash because they didn't have pensions.

[monte1022]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aerides You have to take it in context of this forum. It's a chicken/egg thing. Folks with pensions were more likely to be able to plan for an ER, and quite possibly took pension-paying jobs and careers toward that goal. Also our forum membership tends to skew a bit higher than the general population, including a large chunk of members who are retired, and/or worked their prime working years when pensions were more common in private businesses. For the rest of us (GenX and younger) pensions have largely disappeared from Corporate work, staying only in the public sector. That doesn't mean ER is out of reach at all, just different. We gave up pensions and got 401k's instead. Not as good often, but doable. Fwis I'm younger than you, no pensions, and DH and I retired 5 years ago with less than 3m to start.

Those of us without a pension have to calculate how much money is needed to make up for one missing leg of the retirement stool. I knew early on that my employer did not offer a pension and thus have always tried to save/invest aggressively to fill that gap. The "how much" number is the challenge. Right now, I am thinking my current 3m is still a bit short especially since inflation is here. Those with cola's pensions are golden. Those without cola'd pensions had better have substantial funds on the side.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by monte1022 Those of us without a pension have to calculate how much money is needed to make up for one missing leg of the retirement stool. I knew early on that my employer did not offer a pension and thus have always tried to save/invest aggressively to fill that gap. The "how much" number is the challenge. Right now, I am thinking my current 3m is still a bit short especially since inflation is here. Those with cola's pensions are golden. Those without cola'd pensions had better have substantial funds on the side.

It does appear that even the gummint is beginning to concede that inflation is real and that it's actually here. IIRC, when inflation was higher in the past, equities would more or less keep you even. But when inflation began to "roar" equities began to lose out to bonds and especially CDs - because issuers knew they had to make these instruments attractive. It was about then that the FED was stepping in to slow inflation by tightening credit which retarded equities. It can be a vicious game to play though YMMV.

[jeffst]

Megacorp pension would have been nice.
But they went CH11 2009.
Payout from PBGC should be ~ 1/2

[Pittfan]

Have a older version of federal pension (csrs) approx 117000. Plus 403b, is a savings and eligible for some social security but haven't applied yet because it's subject to the WEP.

[Rustic23]

Multiple, 2 Gov, SS, two private, mine and dw IRAs, and savings.

All done on 90% single income, LBOM.