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Weren't they at least partially vested? My pension came from a GE sub and we were sold after I'd been there for 4 years. I think vesting was supposed to be 5-year cliff but maybe I got a break because I was 53 when the sale happened? According to the formula I'd accrued a $900/month pension at age 60 and that's what I got. Certainly not what I would have gotten if I'd finished out my career as a GE employee but not zero, either. And yes, I just kept stashing money into savings and moved forward.
You were fortunate. There was likely a clause in the buyout that current staff of 'x' amount of time got the pension. I worked for a company that was acquired by a Fortune 500 business. I was 11 days short of the five year pension vesting. It went bye-bye. I was really pissed off about that.
The majority of Americans need to view 69 or 70 as the new retirement age.
The best decision I ever made was to continue working while not drawing social security to nearly 70 years old and it really paid off. I receive just short of $3,100/month while the wife receives $1,200 for a total of $4,300 in social security alone. With 4.33 weeks in a month this is exactly $1,000 weekly and if neither of us works it's all exempt from state and federal taxes and if two people with a paid off mortgage can't live on that then you got to move or your spending is out of control.
If we both collected at 62 we'd maybe have to live on $2,600 maybe? We could do it but life wouldn't be so carefree and wonderful. That and my wife... if something happens to me I can rest easy knowing that my life's greatest partner won't have to live near poverty.
I think you need to decouple retirement age from "collect social security" age. My annualized Social Security benefit delayed to age 70 is a COLA-protected $47,448. I'm 63 this month. I have the $350k to delay collecting Social Security until age 70. That $47k is my longevity insurance and the survivor benefit for my fiancee who is 2 1/2 years younger and with somewhat less benefit. There's no state income tax on it. It receives favorable Federal tax treatment.
I disagree, that might work for some people, my husband worked until he was 72 and I worked until I was 70, then we both did part time work for the Census last year, but there are plenty of jobs that are not suitable for older people, i.e. Police Officer, Fire Fighter, roofer, linesman, stevedore, etc. People who are laid off and are over 60 usually have a very difficult time getting hired, like it or not employers view older workers as more of a burden than an asset.
What we are going to have in a US without pensions are a number of people who are going to be looking to younger family members for help, or taking the little they have and hitting the road, like the characters in Nomadland.
One of my husbands friends was laid off when he was 64, he lost most of his 401k in a divorce settlement a few years earlier so after spending 6 months trying to find a job to supplement his SS he drives for uber/lyft and does food delivery when he can't get driving work. He seems happy enough but is quick to admit that he regrets not getting a job with a pension when he was younger.
You have to realize, we who work in physical jobs don't exist for the desk jockeys. They don't understand the body breaks down with hard work, because they don't do any on a daily basis. Work till 70---why not!
They cannot understand why we can't work until we drop AND beyond. It's apparent from this thread and others that physical jobs have no value, nor do those workers.
Not whining, just pointing out a real disconnect here.
You have to realize, we who work in physical jobs don't exist for the desk jockeys. They don't understand the body breaks down with hard work, because they don't do any on a daily basis. Work till 70---why not!
They cannot understand why we can't work until we drop AND beyond. It's apparent from this thread and others that physical jobs have no value, nor do those workers.
Not whining, just pointing out a real disconnect here.
I think that's a lot of it. The "work until you're 70" crowd sometimes seems that they want to go back to like it was 150 years ago-work until you die plowing the field.
While I was a teacher I was fully ready to retire at 62, my body was breaking down, heart attacks, prostate and bladder issues. We had several teachers have strokes or heart attacks while in front of the class.
When I worked in the factory I couldn't figure out why all those guys who were 50 looked so damned old. After I worked there a couple years, on swing shift, I understood.
And yes, we had guys die at the plant. One I found when he didn't return from the field at the end of the day. He was checking natural gas lines, sat down on a log to eat his lunch and died there with his Thermos. Full disclosure, he was 67 and refused to retire. His never saw a penny of his pension (which he'd worked for since 1924ish when he started at the factory when he was 12 or 14. His wife didn't see a penny either due to the way it was structured).
I think that's a lot of it. The "work until you're 70" crowd sometimes seems that they want to go back to like it was 150 years ago-work until you die plowing the field.
While I was a teacher I was fully ready to retire at 62, my body was breaking down, heart attacks, prostate and bladder issues. We had several teachers have strokes or heart attacks while in front of the class.
When I worked in the factory I couldn't figure out why all those guys who were 50 looked so damned old. After I worked there a couple years, on swing shift, I understood.
And yes, we had guys die at the plant. One I found when he didn't return from the field at the end of the day. He was checking natural gas lines, sat down on a log to eat his lunch and died there with his Thermos. Full disclosure, he was 67 and refused to retire. His never saw a penny of his pension (which he'd worked for since 1924ish when he started at the factory when he was 12 or 14. His wife didn't see a penny either due to the way it was structured).
Same as my dad. He worked in a dynamite factory for 40 years, they "retired him" (which really meant he was fired) at 65 because he was in heart failure (according to his doctor it was due to prolonged exposures to the chemicals used to produce explosives) . He died a year later when he was 66, my mom didn't get a penny of his pension after he died. I guess their original pension plan would have given her a stipend of part of his pension, but when another company bought out the company they ended that without telling anyone.
You have to realize, we who work in physical jobs don't exist for the desk jockeys. They don't understand the body breaks down with hard work, because they don't do any on a daily basis. Work till 70---why not!
They cannot understand why we can't work until we drop AND beyond. It's apparent from this thread and others that physical jobs have no value, nor do those workers.
Not whining, just pointing out a real disconnect here.
I don't consider it whining, it's a fact and tragic one. Employers abandoned pensions when they realized that 401k's were basically no cost to them and no risk. All risk was shifted to the owner of the 401k. If you got unlucky and the market tanked then you would sell what you could and move in with family or hit the road and go gig work for Amazon. It's tragic and it's been ignored for far too long by both political parties.
I don't consider it whining, it's a fact and tragic one. Employers abandoned pensions when they realized that 401k's were basically no cost to them and no risk. All risk was shifted to the owner of the 401k. If you got unlucky and the market tanked then you would sell what you could and move in with family or hit the road and go gig work for Amazon. It's tragic and it's been ignored for far too long by both political parties.
That's not how 401ks work. Most plans use mutual funds that the employees themselves choose. Employees can also move the money around during down markets to minimize loss.
Passivity and ignorance is what causes most 401k losses.
By the way, why do you believe it's an employer's responsibility to guarantee anyone's retirement?
That's not how 401ks work. Most plans use mutual funds that the employees themselves choose. Employees can also move the money around during down markets to minimize loss.
Passivity and ignorance is what causes most 401k losses.
By the way, why do you believe it's an employer's responsibility to guarantee anyone's retirement?
Nonsense, during the recession a lot of people lost almost everything in their 401k, for younger employers they have recovered nicely but if you were of retirement age when that happened you were pretty much screwed. And FYI I never said an employer has a responsibility to guarantee anyone's retirement, did I? Why are you so sensitive about it, are you an employer offering some craptastic zero match 401k to your employees?
That's not how 401ks work. Most plans use mutual funds that the employees themselves choose. Employees can also move the money around during down markets to minimize loss.
Passivity and ignorance is what causes most 401k losses.
Do you seriously believe this? That employees can move the money around during down markets to minimize loss? That this is going to work for people? That their passivity and ignorance is to blame for the massive losses people suffered in the last Recession?
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