I've seen a lot of “it’s my last day at GE” posts...is anyone, other than me, considering rolling over the cash value of your GE pension before it becomes worthless? Serious question.
21 replies (most recent on top)
A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush. If you still trust management after how badly they screwed up the company, I hope you have a big 401k to weather the storm.
I really doubt it's an HR person. More likely it's just someone who would rather live in a simple world then be shocked at what happens.
I will say that the people who say the pension is 100% safe are better than those who say there will be no pension. The latter is just silly.
Take the payout and short GE stock.
I still think the best option is to put it all on red or black and hope you double your money.
You just can't help some people. If you want to believe that pensions can't be reduced because a third party is involved you are a fool. It happens all the time. My guess is that this is just some HR or executive trying to muddy the waters so that they can hold on to other people's money. Go ahead and trust GE with your life savings. I hear they are very transparent.
@1fcv the company isn’t paying it, the insurer is. I have researched this extensively, and you don’t know wth you’re talking about. Your pension has an insurance policy, and it insures your accrued pension. Simple.
"It is reduced because the company "can't afford" to pay it. "
So you're now saying pensions can be reduced in bankruptcy despite PBGC insurance. Good. We're getting somewhere.
1wpr- Wishful thinking. It is not reduced because of early retirement or lack of accrual. It is reduced because the company "can't afford" to pay it. It's really not simple at all. Please do some research as I have done before posting on this important topic.
Your definition of earned isn't their definition of earned. Go figure out what THEIR definition of earned means. Go figure out what GE has promised. See how the two differ. There's the issue.
For instance, what if GE assumes a rate of return of 12% from 2016, 20017 and 2018? What if it only got 4%? What does PBGC assume? What do you assume? What did you earn? What were you promised?
Not so simple.
@1hwn if you were retiring at 55, with a pension projected to be $5k/month at 65, you’d be lucky to get $2400/month. It’s no different for the pension insurance...if your benefits cease to accrue at 55, as in a bankruptcy, of course your pension is reduced...just like it would be if you retired early at 55. You will get whatever you have earned, up to $5k/month. It really is that simple.
Yes the reductions occur on a pretty regular basis these days. I have worked with guys that had to come back from retirement because the benefits were not 20% of what was planned.
@1ftx Call me stupid then look it up and see there are exceptions. Your $5k/month is a MAXIMUM insured if you are 64 and the company goes bankrupt in 2018 with some other caveats like not recognizing changes made in the last 5 years, etc. It is not as simple as you make it out to be. For instance if you're 55 when the employer goes under then the Max guarantee is only $2,4k/month.
Some here don’t know wtf they’re talking about. “Insured in good times”, lol...seriously...you don’t need insurance in good times dumba$$.
The GE pension is insured by a third party. You do know what insurance is, right? This insurance will pay you 100% of your pension, up to roughly $5k/month. Anyone claiming otherwise is either intentionally stirring the pot, or stupid.
To those who care, yes there is a company that offers protection to pensions in good times. The standards are relaxed by law when a company goes bankrupt and they can reduce or eliminate your payments. Personally, I would roll it over if I had the chance into something not dependent on a single company's health... But that's just my 2 cents worth. Good luck.
No pension is 100% insured. There will be a haircut.
That said, it's funded at something like 81% so any required haircut won't be too drastic.
Pension is insured and not going anywhere, even in bankruptcy. It would be wise, however, to dump any GE stock in your 401k. Don’t want too many eggs in the GE basket.
People are clutching at straws if they think they will have a decent pension with GE. The company is heading for bankruptcy and sooner or later will have to raid the pension fund to fend off creditors. Wake up for crissake.
The pension will not be worthless.
@sel/@wwd, get back on your meds. You're never cured. You have to stay on your meds.
Forget the horses.....hit the casino if you want to get rich.....slot machines, roulette, black jack tables good luck
@sel you are a troll. go away
To the OP. I'm not a financial guy by any means, but from what I've read elsewhere, the pension will not be worthless, my understanding is GE is obligated to pay out. Others with more intelligence on this topic may be able to provide more depth to that.
Forget about your pension it's already worthless. Best thing now is to try your luck on the horses to see if you can accumulate a decent pension from any winnings.