I’m almost 40, and am about 13 years from retirement. I guess I’ve made it a little over 1/2 way.
I’m not currently surplussed, but am so tired of being stressed that any day could be that call. I see a lot of companies are hiring, and I’m so tempted to just make a run for it.
My question is- I keep hearing people say they are trying to make it to retirement. What are the benefits of retiring here?
Legacy B here. Per the Retirement Medical SPD on Benefits website, page 54, Leg B mgmt hired after 01/01/2001 does not qualify for subsidized benefits. Also, your legacy company is dependent on what you were considered when SBC bought BellSouth in 12/29/2006. If you had moved to Cingular by then, you may play by Legacy C rules.
+1 on the recommendation to call HROneStop, but I prefer to have something written to refer to. Grab copies of the retirement SPD's in the Benefits website; they are conveniently hidden at the bottom of the page in the Plan Docs section. The rules and gating criteria are all spelled out.
Also, regarding the 'Preview Your Health Coverage' tool, it only works if you are retirement eligible for any date this year. I'm several years from eligibility, so I get an error message when trying to model my costs.
OP Question was "What are the benefits of retiring here?"
You won't know until you retire. Otherwise it's a guess. They are changing all the time. The only benefit you have is the one you create - saving as much money as you can. No other guarantees.
If you have an option to leave, do it. I was let go in ‘18, best thing that ever happened. I was 40 with 18 YOS. If you have the mobility pension, that is yours to do with as you please. Take it invest in an IRA and build it on your own. Retirement health is a joke with people our age, so I wouldn’t even worry about that. I know they have preached that you will find nothing better outside of AT&T but they are wrong. I have never been happier since being laid off from the sweat shop known as AT&T
I started at Ameritech in 98 which became SBC then AT&T. Left AT&T in 2019 via surplus and found there was little for me in the way of retirement. There is NO subsidized Med/Dent. The only thing AT&T would give me if i had made it to Mod Rule 75 was about $540K pension. So it is up to you if you stay or leave but...................full pension is only if you make it to 25yrs which is another 12yrs away. And if at any time they surplus you in those 12yrs you will not get your full pension. You may want to cut your losses and find a better company where you can do 20yrs under less stress.
Over the years they stripped away just about all the quality costly perks of retiring with them. Probably trying to get the severance down to a month for the long timers.
I am legacy Cingular, management. Hit 25 last year at age 50 so I made MR 75. My situation is a bit different in that I am currently on my spouse's superior and cheaper medical insurance plan, but I too wanted to confirm what I would be eligible for as a retiree. I confirmed will be eligible for retiree subsidized medical coverage. Which is good to know I guess, as it will be a backup in the event my spouse stops working for some reason. I was also able to confirm that I can sign up for this at anytime as a retiree (meaning it does not matter that I am not enrolled at retirement).
Go to HR OneStop, then the AT&T Benefits center. Click on "Life Changes" at top of page, then "Prepare for Retirement". Click on the "Retiring in a Few Years" tab and then "Preview Your Health and Insurance Coverage". This will allow you to build a model.
You can also just call the Benefits Center at 877-722-0020 and have them confirm or deny whether you will be eligible for subsidized medical coverage or "access only".
Very invested in the following question so if someone knows for sure I would be very grateful. Apologies if this comes across as a hijack but I believe it fits the thread.
BellSouth hire in 2002, management, Then Cingular wireless, now ATT. Will hit MR75 in 2022.
What retirement benefits can I count on (unless policy changes)? Spouse is about to "retire" (ie simply resign) for health reasons and will not have any retirement benefits so this leaves us to plan my timing carefully. If no or little health insurance benefit (don't care about phone plans) then I may also retire/resign earlier than MR75, also for health reasons though not as significant as spouse.
In other words if, in my situation, health insurance is not provided at close to employee cost upon MR75, then the reasons to hang around are significantly fewer.
We have been saving and can afford it but for health insurance, which is hard to quantify.
@wos+13qMrkaS - according to the lawsuit that is still on going att did not update some age tables and some other shady items and that is why they are being sued. hopefully it will get some more money for those that took the lump sum. Just more att stealing from the people that built the company.
Thinking about retirement... sounds like slacking off, hiding and getting away with doing little work.
You're 40...if your skills are marketable, you won't face the age discrimination those of us 50 + will in the job market. There is no compelling reason to stay anymore in hopes of reaching "retirement" eligibility or MR 75. Of course most retiree benefits depend on legacy company, management v. bargained for, etc. but generally, there is nothing worth sticking around for. Even those fortunate to have "subsidized" medical insurance as a retiree (and many don't) are still paying a great deal of money. Many have "access" only, which simply means you can pay the full boat. Thanks, I can do that on the open market.
funny to read the replies. all posts summed up = retirement at att is your 401k balance...there's nothing else, except a 5k/year pension...go buy some skittles. and, the company stock blows -so all you have are 10 other options with the same stock portfolios
If you were hired after Sep, 1997, it's worth nothing to stay except the lousy discounts and $15K retiree life insurance even you make it to MR 75.
None and they are overrated unless you have a pension. My advice is leave I stayed there way too long and life is too short for att.
ATTWS was Wireless (before Cingular, SBC/ATT)
Unless you are union, or protected under a legal agreement from a previous merger/acquisition, (ex. PacBell), any retirement benefits currently offered can change and most likely will before you reach retirement age. There were some retirement benefits in ATTWS prior to the merger that have been slowly and discreetly taken away. Now, ATTWS retirees have a pension and not a lot more other than some very minor discounts on phone service.
What is offered today, may not be offered at the time of your retirement. And ATT is notorious for surplusing employees before they qualify for retirement benefits. Sadly, it's a formula other companies will most likely follow in the future.
If I were 40 today, I would seek another opportunity. If you are able to earn a higher income with another company, begin your own retirement package with the extra income while building a second pension as well.
Don't count on AT&T to provide the gold watch.
The 'benefits' depend on when you were hired and the company that hired you. Based on that info, you could qualify for subsidized health care if you retire prior to age 65 (assuming there isn't a significant change in health care benefits, which probably isn't a good assumption). Retiree discounts on AT&T products are less that employee discounts, so they aren't a reason to stick around.
When we were notified the $2,700 medicare subsidy would not be available for employees who retired after 12/31/2020, many employees started checked to see what would be available, based on current info, when they retired. More than a few found out they didn't qualify for subsidized health care as part of their retirement benefits.
Employees that say they are trying to make it to their retirement may be unpleasantly surprised if they haven't investigated their retiree benefits.
Was hired before divesiture.
Retired in 2016 with 36 years as an outside tech.
401K + lump sum=7 figures.
Health insurance continues, same cost.
Discounts stink, but who cares.
And I no longer have to go to He11's basement to have the very life s—ed out of my soul every day.
That's why.
What is ATTWS ?
Depends on what company you came to work for. If you are an old ATTWS employee, you get nothing but your pension cash payout.If you are legacy SBC, you just might get some help on health insurance and a measly discount on AT&T products and services.
Speaking of pension , all I know is that when it was bellsouth , my estimated pension at 65 would be 500k. After att bought bellsouth , I noticed that pension estimate was essentially cut in half to $250k. Now, I’m not complaining; it’s still free money as far as I’m concerned but does anyone know how att managed to cut our pension benefit in half ?
Keep in mind you will likely never see "retirement" since the target on your back grows larger with age. I'm not sure what area of the company you are in, but I know my organization has no defined retirement and only has cash balance It is at least something but will be far from one million even if I stay until 62. Also the rule 75 has no meaning in some areas as well and only benefits "some" areas of the company.
I'm face with similar decision about leave now or wait until they tell me to leave later. I'm just more confident about getting a new job while the economy is good and I'm not too old. I still can't wrap my head around the idea the economy is booming, the company is "investing" billions, and they still can't seem to find a way to grow the company or employment under the current leadership.
A final thought. Why the heck were they given a 42 billion dollar tax break (our tax dollars) over the next 10 years if they can't create jobs? Makes no sense to me.
If you are one of grandfathered person with pension. some folks get almost a million dollars in that package (with market doing good).
Effective dollars added by company is somewhere between 100k-200k for the life of an employee at AT&T.
If you can beat the salary anywhere else, go take that.
If you cannot beat the salary but know that you will have less stress, still go and take it.
If you cannot beat the salary and know that where you plan to go will be more stress than what you are undergoing here, push this through as long as you can.