Signed up today to start pension payments!

[EarlyandLate]

I just signed up to begin receiving my pension payments. It was shockingly easy to do so. My only choice is monthly payments for life. It is not huge, but will cover all my current basic living expenses such as housing, insurance, taxes, food and incidentals. (My expenses are pretty modest.) Anything big like travel, large one-time expenses such as major appliances, new car, major donations, etc. will come from my investments. I'm about to have one of those major expenses. My elderly HVAC just died.

This will be the first time in 8 years that I have had any regular monthly income. I feel a bit like people who have their first baby... "They're just going to let me walk out of here with this thing?!"

 

[finnski1]

Congrats and enjoy.

 

[brett]

Enjoy those first few months when the payments are deposited in your account.

Very nice feeling. At least it was for me.

Congrats

 

[badatmath]

Congrats. I have not started mine and it is kind of killing me even if the payments aren't enough to live on. Just spending money out of of my account is not for the faint of heart!

 

[EarlyandLate]

Congrats. I have not started mine and it is kind of killing me even if the payments aren't enough to live on. Just spending money out of of my account is not for the faint of heart!

Yep! It was certainly that way for me when I first exited the megacorp

 

[FI_RElater]

I' ve been "Paid to Stay Away" for a few years now !

 

[street]

You can sit back and enjoy. Congrat!!

 

[Dreamer]

It was an amazing feeling that I did not have to work and still got paid. Enjoy.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Early, I also love my pension and like you it covers my bills and I have investments for the extra expenses.

 

[pacergal]

Pensions are nice, part of the great "three legged retirement stool"

 

[Koolau]

I'm sure you earned every dollar of it. ENJOY!

 

[Dash man]

Congratulations and enjoy!
I got my first pension check 125 months ago. Nice that it comes like clockwork. The amount hasn’t changed, so it’s not worth what it used to be, but pays for enough to make a difference.

 

[Koolau]

Congratulations and enjoy!
I got my first pension check 125 months ago. Nice that it comes like clockwork. The amount hasn’t changed, so it’s not worth what it used to be, but pays for enough to make a difference.

I think I'm up to 214 and not so much as a nickel raise in all that time. Still, it's much better than nothing which what companies seem to be moving toward. Pensions are becoming an anachronism. Heh, heh, especially COLAd pensions!

 

[EarlyandLate]

I think I'm up to 214 and not so much as a nickel raise in all that time. Still, it's much better than nothing which what companies seem to be moving toward. Pensions are becoming an anachronism. Heh, heh, especially COLAd pensions!

I do feel sympathy for those who were newer employees in that megacorp. The pension plan was drastically reduced a few years before my exit. So actually I get two pensions, A and B. The B is about $60 per month.

 

[jazz4cash]

It was an amazing feeling that I did not have to work and still got paid. Enjoy.

+1. Congrats. I remember sitting at a ballgame on a Saturday and my phone dings…it’s my pension credit hitting my checking account. My regular paycheck never got credited until next business day!

 

[brett]

After 10 years of monthly employer pension deposits I still get a smile on my face when I see the deposit on our on line bank statement.

 

[ClarkeK]

Congrats! Mine starts in January. I still can't shake that 'believe-it-when-I-see-it' feeling though.

 

[Koolau]

Back when Megacorp's pension was still pretty sweet (down graded over time for me) we had a guy who must have been 64(?) and his wife w*rked in an office j*b in Megacorp.

One of our guys casually mentioned to "Charley" that he was w*rking for half salary. "What do you mean?" "You'd get half your salary if you retired and took your pension."

Charley retired and his DW retired the next week!

 

[EarlyandLate]

Back when Megacorp's pension was still pretty sweet (down graded over time for me) we had a guy who must have been 64(?) and his wife w*rked in an office j*b in Megacorp.

One of our guys casually mentioned to "Charley" that he was w*rking for half salary. "What do you mean?" "You'd get half your salary if you retired and took your pension."

Charley retired and his DW retired the next week!

I once saw a woman wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Retirement: Half the money and twice the husband"

 

[TheWizard]

Back when Megacorp's pension was still pretty sweet (down graded over time for me) we had a guy who must have been 64(?) and his wife w*rked in an office j*b in Megacorp.

One of our guys casually mentioned to "Charley" that he was w*rking for half salary. "What do you mean?" "You'd get half your salary if you retired and took your pension."

Charley retired and his DW retired the next week!

My father looked at it that way, too, working for the Feds.

That's the plus and the minus part of working with a DB pension in your future.

With a DC plan, you have more control on how much to contribute and then later, how much to "pensionize".
Oddly enough, many people look at 401(k) or 403(b) as wealth accumulation rather than Deferred Compensation, and refuse to pensionize any of it.
Damn Insurance Companies, they say, even those in good health...

 

[jollystomper]

Congrats - even after 5 years I still enjoy that regular pension deposit. It feels like "getting paid for doing nothing" . It helps that it still covers the majority of our expenses.

 

[mystang52]

Many years ago I was in a political battle, my j*b was at stake. I had been there a bit over 4 years. I decided to fight back, because I qualified for pension if I was there 5 years or more. I survived, albeit not by much (5 years + 2 months).
Years later I started getting that not-insignificant monthly pension. "Free" money is nice. Congrats to OP.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Congrats. I have not started mine and it is kind of killing me even if the payments aren't enough to live on. Just spending money out of of my account is not for the faint of heart!

Badatmath, so how are things working out for you, it's been a few months now?

I know it was a scary time for you being laid off and you were not sure if you would be retiring or looking for another job.

 

[Dean56]

You worked hard to earn a pension. Now enjoy the benefits!!

 

[old medic]

Welcome to the check of the month club.