Pensions - Got one?

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg I disagree . My husband died less than two years after retirement .Luckily he had opted for the survivor benefit . I get 60% of his Cola pension & medical benefits .

I thought that a married person who gets a no-survivors pension, had to get his/her spouse's OK on that. ??

[SDHiker]

I am one of the lucky ones. Local government pension 2% at 50, 3% at 60. I will not make it to 60, but already have 28.5 years in at age 55. We have also saved in 457, 401a, 401k and Roth IRA accounts over the years to cover my husband's retirement from non-pension jobs. I hope to retire in 2 years at about 81% of my top 1 year. This tier pension is no longer offered. They take about 8% out for the pension.

[martyb]

CSRS (federal) pension when I decide to retire. Currently at 37 yrs time in the system. Not a super high grade, GS-11, mid-step. I'm 56 yrs old as of Jan 2014. I will also receive a military reserves retirement in another 3 yrs, 10 months. The CSRS pension will net more per month than I currently net while working, but of course I currently am contributing the max to my TSP. At age 62, I should see about $250 (approx) from SS due to WEP. The 2 pensions are COLA'd, and my health insurance is also included with my federal pension with approx 70% being subsidized. My TSP fund is available if I need to tap into it, up to maybe $1000 per month pre-tax.

[clifp]

No pension, still managed to retire early without one.

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I thought that a married person who gets a no-survivors pension, had to get his/her spouse's OK on that. ??

Correct ! My late husband opted for the survivor benefit so no Ok needed .

[Sue J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I thought that a married person who gets a no-survivors pension, had to get his/her spouse's OK on that. ??

When DH retired I had to sign and notarize a document showing that I agreed with his option. If I remember correctly there was a default option of 50% to survivor and the spouse had to sign off on any other choices. 100% to survivor cost us about $300/mo. If I die first DHs monthly amount will "pop up" to what it would have been if he had been single.

The 100% to survivor was the best option for us since I didn't work from 1984-2006. Outside of my small SS benefit all I'd have is a few years of Roth IRAs, our savings and assets, and term life insurance on DH until age 65. The 100% to survivor feels very secure to me.

[Cat-tirement]

Company discontinued pensions a few years ago, and froze non-COLA pensions for existing employees at the time. So, I'm not getting any more by working longer (yet another incentive to ER). On the positive side, I can start taking it at 62 unreduced, or at 60 with only a tiny reduction. I plan to do the latter, and get about 25K/year.

DW's employer also dropped their non-COLA pensions a few years ago, though in her case it is not frozen like mine. Hers is reduced about 7% each year before 65, so we will wait until then for about 21K/year.

We both will get fairly decent SS (most likely taken at 70), each on our own records. 401k and IRA will fund pre-60, and supplement the pensions and SS after that.

[LinCella]

I have a pension due to many years of local agency work. It as an annual 2% COLA. I did have money in a 457 but cashed that out for an eventual down payment on a house. With lifetime agency paid medical, I'm not complaining, though I should have saved more money. I'll never be rich but I can pay my bills, have fun and put some aside.

[LinCella]

I won't know about social security for awhile as I'm 54, but my agency did not pay ss. It will be a very small amount, if any

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I thought that a married person who gets a no-survivors pension, had to get his/her spouse's OK on that. ??

It's been a while so I can't remember for sure why, but DW did have to sign off on some of the retirement paperwork when I retired. Assuming I go first she will continue to get the medical benefits and 70% of the pension. That's the main reason I'm holding off on SS even though I could take it now since after she's 66 she can continue to receive my full SS benefit. Hers won't be much. That makes the net income decrease closer to 17-20% which, given there will be one less vehicle, food, etc. will probably be close to a financial wash for her.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Hers won't be much. That makes the net income decrease closer to 17-20% which, given there will be one less vehicle, food, etc. will probably be close to a financial wash for her.

Don't forget about the change from MFJ to single filing status. That can sometimes increase your tax bill rather massively, even on modestly lower income.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 Don't forget about the change from MFJ to single filing status. That can sometimes increase your tax bill rather massively, even on modestly lower income.

I know. That's going to be what it's going to be and other than having the savings, 457, life insurance on me, and her savings there's not much else we can do about it. While she won't be cruising the world she won't be eating cat food either.

[Eagle43]

Two pensions. One is military, the other non-cola megacorp.

Sent from my AT100 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

[anethum]

No pension. I worked for a megacorp which ended their pension plan after I had been there about 10 years. At the time, I got a fairly small lump sum which I rolled over to an IRA.

Retirement planning is a very different matter for those of us with a minimal or no pension.

[tryan]

Yep ... $847/mo when I turn 65 ...wahooo.

Reminds me of my grand mother. She collected $27/month after working 35 years. She used to say she can't even go out to dinner ... lunch "maybe". Obviously it's value was inflated away.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tryan Yep ... $847/mo when I turn 65 ...wahooo.

Tell me about it...

[6miths]

No pension for DW or I.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I thought that a married person who gets a no-survivors pension, had to get his/her spouse's OK on that. ??

Yes, the spouse does have to sign off. For a lot of reasons it can make sense, depending on the circumstances.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover Yes, the spouse does have to sign off. For a lot of reasons it can make sense, depending on the circumstances.

Indeed. Sometimes it may be possible to buy a life insurance policy on the pensioner which is enough to replace the survivor income, for less than the monthly cost of taking the joint-and-survivor option. When that is the case it can indeed make sense to forego all survivor income, take the higher pension payout and get some life insurance with the increased pension payments.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover Yes, the spouse does have to sign off. For a lot of reasons it can make sense, depending on the circumstances.

I have a delusional friend who thinks he is going to get to take option 1 to maximize his pension. Wife has no benefits and neither have any money saved, but the pension will be very generous. He is still 10 years away from retiring but he thinks she can just find another husband if he dies. Ya, I'm sure she will go for that, and he hasn't yet mentioned this "plan" to her either...