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View Poll Results: Do you have a pension?
Government Pension 166 29.23%
Corporate Pension 195 34.33%
No pension, just SS & savings 207 36.44%
Voters: 568. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 05-13-2021, 07:06 AM   #101
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“Small” is relative. We need another poll to define what is small...[emoji3]

To me, if monthly pension income is less than 10% of monthly expenses, that is small.

Once, my vesting period in my current MC is over, I will no longer fit in the “small” category based on my own definition. Time to label the next slab 10-20%
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Old 05-13-2021, 07:27 AM   #102
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Originally Posted by disneysteve View Post
I'm surprised by the poll results - 60% have pensions (I'm in the other 40%). I expected that number to be a lot lower.

I think the group has a high percentage of government workers that seem to get large pensions.
Just one more reason for smaller government.
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Old 05-13-2021, 07:35 AM   #103
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No pension. 401ks from 4 different jobs, an IRA and an individual stock account. No SS yet, not old enough. I plan to take SS early and it should be enough to pay basic monthly bills.
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Old 05-13-2021, 07:46 AM   #104
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Originally Posted by ER Eddie View Post
Yeah, it's a small one, though. About $1000/month.

They've written me letters offering to convert it to a lump sum, but I like the idea of a $1000/month check for the rest of my life. I also figure that if they're trying to convince me to take a lump sum, that's probably in their interest, not mine.
My frozen pension (the one I'll start getting in 7 years, when I turn 65) is about the same as yours. Do you see yours as a supplement, or offset, to the reduced SS benefits due to retiring early and adding all those years of zero wages to the SS benefit calculation?
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Old 05-13-2021, 07:48 AM   #105
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No pension. 401ks from 4 different jobs, an IRA and an individual stock account. No SS yet, not old enough. I plan to take SS early and it should be enough to pay basic monthly bills.
Same here. Still 20+ yrs away from getting SS. I am not holding my breath for it though. Comparing to the 3-legged stool retirement model, mine has just my savings including tIRA, Roth IRA, 401k, Roth 401k, HSA, 529 and a few taxable index fund and ETF portfolios.
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Old 05-13-2021, 08:08 AM   #106
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Both DH and I have corporate pensions totaling about 75% of our expenses. Could have been more had we stayed past 55, but neither of us felt it was worth it. We started DH’s SS last year and now we have 100% of our annual spending covered. So now our investments are for….well…whatever we want them to be for. But we’ve never wanted much, so the kids will likely make out well someday We are very blessed.

I tip my hat to those who managed to retire early with no pension. Not an easy feat, especially if you have kids….
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Old 05-13-2021, 08:20 AM   #107
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My pension has a Capped COLA. Above a certain percentage increase in the cost of living increase, my lunch gets eaten by the inflation demon. Since I retired, the COL has always been below the cap. This year.... the demon may feast.
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Old 05-13-2021, 08:28 AM   #108
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Nope.
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Old 05-13-2021, 09:01 AM   #109
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Originally Posted by Love This Community View Post
“Small” is relative. We need another poll to define what is small...[emoji3]

To me, if monthly pension income is less than 10% of monthly expenses, that is small.

Once, my vesting period in my current MC is over, I will no longer fit in the “small” category based on my own definition. Time to label the next slab 10-20%
the one I called small is a moving target, between 300 and 400 a month. That pension is in critical status and who knows what they will do to try and repair it. That one I cannot take early, it is 65-on.
The main pension is going to cover retiree medical, taxes, and about 70% of today's expenses. It will get a bump when DW gets to medicare and we can cut that medical cost to supplements, from ~1100 a month.
Being non-cola'd, it will have a diminishing role in our future.
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Old 05-13-2021, 09:35 AM   #110
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Local govt pension for both DH and I, 100% survivor, small COLA--max 2%. Pension alone covers our expenses.

Have 457B, taxable savings, and SS. We saved like crazy, even with the pension.

Feel blessed that we have what we have.
However, I have many other RN friends who make double per hour what I did in govt. work. I was tied to the golden handcuffs, as our pension is no longer offered to new employees.
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Old 05-13-2021, 09:39 AM   #111
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My pension is cola’d and I get a 195/subsidy towards my HI which is 330/month. My pension is 40% of my salary.
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Old 05-13-2021, 10:13 AM   #112
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My pension is cola’d and I get a 195/subsidy towards my HI which is 330/month. My pension is 40% of my salary.
Mine is also about 40%. I also contributed quite a bit to my pension over the years. I estimate that 20% of each dollar I receive is from my contributions and the earnings of those contributions.

I remember having a pension in my first job, fully funded by my employer. I was too young to realize what a good deal I had. But, thanks to mergers that company was absorbed by another decades before I retired. So, what the pension would have been and how secure it would be is up in the air.
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Old 05-13-2021, 10:16 AM   #113
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I have a non-COLA'd corporate pension that's over 40% of my final salary... it covers all of my retirement expenses and then some. MegaCorp also continues to provide a *very* nice health insurance subsidy.

When adjusted for additional taxes, mortgage, paying for children's college, etc. I will have more discretionary income next year (when I start collecting SS) than when I was working... and that's without touching my retirement savings.
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Old 05-13-2021, 10:25 AM   #114
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I only know a few people with a good pension. A few teachers and firefighter are all that come to mind. I also know a few with baby pensions as I call them(not enough to cover the basics).
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Old 05-13-2021, 10:42 AM   #115
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One of the better, or interesting, polls that I've seen here in a while.... IMO, SS is a pension... But that's me.... SS is also an inflation adjusted pension.... Well sort of...


Voted just SS for me.
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Old 05-13-2021, 10:57 AM   #116
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There have been several polls showing this over the years. It’s one of the factors that influences how people answer posts here, though we have no way of knowing which is which. Risk means different things to SIRE vs FIRE households…
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Yes we can, for sure. But the relevance of people's answers is different.

For instance let's say in a discussion about investing, someone with a full pension and 500K in investments says, "I am very bullish. I am invested 100 percent in stocks", it is very different than a non-pension person living entirely off say $2M of investments saying the same thing.

Because the risks they are taking are very different. This is just one of numerous examples.

I have often thought it would be helpful if it were easier to know the financial context of people's comments.
Spot on Montecfo! As has been long established here in multiple previous threads/polls, whether one is FIRE, Semi-SIRE or SIRE makes a world of difference in one's approach to retirement. Perhaps we should all start using monikers (SIRE, Semi-SIRE or FIRE) when posting on the subjects of AA, risk tolerance, SWR, etc.

For the poll I answered Govt Pension because I have two smallish government pensions (one COLAd) with cover ~20% of current expenses.
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Old 05-13-2021, 11:07 AM   #117
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Spot on Montecfo! As has been long established here in multiple previous threads/polls, whether one is FIRE, Semi-SIRE or SIRE makes a world of difference in one's approach to retirement. Perhaps we should all start using monikers (SIRE, Semi-SIRE or FIRE) when posting on the subjects of AA, risk tolerance, SWR, etc.

For the poll I answered Govt Pension because I have two smallish government pensions (one COLAd) with cover ~20% of current expenses.
I agree, which is why my signature has indicated my status for many years now. It used to say SIRE’d at 55 but I got too many puzzled PMs so changed it to be clearer.
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Old 05-13-2021, 11:40 AM   #118
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I'm surprised by the poll results - 60% have pensions (I'm in the other 40%). I expected that number to be a lot lower.
That could be because pensions were more common in the past when currently retired (even early) were employed. If you look at currently employed individuals who will retire in 5-20 years, the percentage will be much lower.

I have a Navy retirement pension for 22 years of service (12 of them in the Reserves), and a FERS pension for 20 years of service (I paid into it to transfer my Navy active duty time). So I am a double-dipper. About $65K per year in inflation-adjusted income, plus very little expenditure for healthcare (Medicare + BC/BS from civilian employment, Tricare).

I guess that time I spent in the Reserves was worth more than what I got paid for my 2 weeks of ACDUTRA.
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Old 05-13-2021, 11:58 AM   #119
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I took my pension at 56, it provided 25% of my total salary when I retired but it was 92% of my take home pay due to payroll taxes and 401k contributions. Had I waited to 65, the pension would have about half of of my 2014 salary.

I don't regret retiring 7 years ago and collecting what I receive now; it will continue 'til both of us are room temperature.
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Old 05-13-2021, 12:05 PM   #120
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Military pension not listed so I selected corporate since I have both (would not allow double selection), in addition to VA disability.
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