Category: Pensions
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Take Lump Sum or Monthly Pension Payments?
This was the subject of a recent question to Money Magazine senior editor Walter Updegrave. The choice came down to whether you wanted the security of a monthly check for the rest of your life (monthly pension payments) or the freedom of investing the lump sum however you chose, with a few wrinkles. Updegrave says…
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Being Fired Doesn’t Affect Retirement Vesting
If you are fired, it doesn’t affect the vesting status of your retirement assets. Any funds that hadn’t vested, will expire. Any funds that had vested, are yours to keep forever. Any contributions you made are always yours, regardless of how long you’ve been there or how the vesting schedule works. Your money is always…
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Retirement Assets After A Layoff
Being fired isn’t something you want to think about but with the economy in the sad state that it’s in, you should prepare for the worst and hope for the best. It’s important to find out what could happen to your retirement assets in the event you are laid off and fortunately, in most scenarios,…
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Vallejo, CA Declares Bankruptcy to Avoid Pensions
Usually a debt obligation, such as a bond, by the federal government, state, or city is reliable and dependable. In fact, it’s so reliable that there’s a suit being raised against bond rating agencies over that very issue. Well, a pension is essentially a debt obligation and while we expect companies to potentially go bankrupt,…
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Defined Benefit vs Defined Contribution Plan
In all the discussion about retirement plans, pensions, 401(k)s, IRAs, you may have heard the term “defined-benefit” and “defined-contribution” plan thrown around and wondered what they meant. Both are employer-sponsored retirement plan types but have slight different characteristics. Defined-Benefit Plan A defined benefit plan, often called a “qualified benefit plan” or “non-qualified benefit plan,” is…
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Pensions: Take Lump Sum or Annuity?
When you retire and are eligible to withdraw from your company’s pension, you’re often two options. The first is keep the pension as an annuity and receive payments each month that you and, if you have a spouse, your spouse will receive for as long as you both are alive, it’s called a joint-and-survivor annuity.…
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Freezing Pensions, Moving to 401K
More and more companies are doing what Goodyear recently announced that they would do, freeze pensions and move towards 401k’s as the standard retirement vehicle for most workers. Pensions, in general, are very expensive, as you may have surmised by the numbers Goodyear has put out for how much they would save, and employers are…
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Reasons To Take The Lump Sum
When it comes time to cash out your retirement, it usually comes down to a decision of whether you want to take a lump sum or income for life (or a mix of both). Here are some reasons why you should consider a lump sum. 1. You can control your investments If you take the…
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Finding Lost Pension Benefits
Just like finding lost money owed to you (say, from a security deposit on an apartment), lots of folks have pension benefits that they don’t know about or have lost track of! Personally, I know I don’t have pension benefits because I wasn’t at my first job long enough and my current one doesn’t offer…