Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

I keep hearing about the recession/stagflation from the same “professional economist” and fund managers. It’s the same drivel they tried the first time trump was president so don’t believe your lying eyes or the stock markets hitting records. Trillions of dollars of investments and being on-shored and large corporations are investing but still, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. Wake up from your TDS!! My 401k is already heading up all while inflation has gone down and staying stable.

be leery of that offer at&t offers from edelman .. they will steal your savings

@cf No 72t required if using the Rule of 55.

Your 401k is not good enough and need to get a financial advisor

This is a very optimistic view. I believe that our market is over valued and we are in for a major drop and recession. Hope I am wrong but anticipate a spike in unemployment and 20% or more drop as investors reallocate their positions into emerging markets.

Sounds like a buy opportunity for those of us who are smart and have a brokerage fund invested conservatively for use during market drops so we don't draw from retirement accounts when the market has a drawdown.

@ae This is a very optimistic view. I believe that our market is over valued and we are in for a major drop and recession. Hope I am wrong but anticipate a spike in unemployment and 20% or more drop as investors reallocate their positions into emerging markets.

" There have been suggestions and ideas of various ways to correct the shortfall but hasn’t been a serious topic in congress or the senate yet. Hopefully the current president takes up the issue during his term because he is one of the few that can herd the cats into a solution. This is an American issue not red or blue so hopefully some bipartisan solutions come to fruition, big ask these days."

It is very simple, either the benefit will have to be reduced, the age eligibility made older, or means testing. Or some combination of those things. No politician or President want to be the one to seriously take on the issue.

Anyone that even talks about SS reform is portrayed as throwing Granny off the cliff. Just for stating there is a problem that is going to have to be dealt with. And you the big money ads "Joe Blow wants to TAKE AWAY YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY!!!" -and nothing ever gets done.

They should allow people to opt out of this joke. If I could have in my 20's and 30's I sure would have. Imagine the money you'd have if that FICA money had just been invested in some S&P index funds instead over 40 plus years.

I still have about 9 years till full retirement if I’m lucky so, a few yrs ago began putting the majority of my contributions into the post tax bucket. Wished I’d started sooner but doing it now while still working. I feel more comfortable having some options in retirement, felt too exposed going total deferred then one is at the whims of the politicians. Most of them only care about their next election and what is happening in the beltway. They need to be term limited but that is a separate discussion.

The politicians have continued to kick the SS and Medicare funding issues down the road for decadesbut are about to run out runway. It’s very concerning that a 20%+ reduction is coming soon without any serious discussions or legislation on the fix by the vast majority. The pols will eventually go to their old standby of raising taxes plus other changes so I’m trying to reduce my liability as much as possible now.

There have been suggestions and ideas of various ways to correct the shortfall but hasn’t been a serious topic in congress or the senate yet. Hopefully the current president takes up the issue during his term because he is one of the few that can herd the cats into a solution. This is an American issue not red or blue so hopefully some bipartisan solutions come to fruition, big ask these days.

Is it worth adding to a Roth if you’re over 65? Unless investing for children’s inheritance etc wouldn’t it be the same as just opening a brokerage account?

With the passage of the OBBB and higher income tax deductions for seniors 65 or older, taking tax deferred 401K or IRA distributions and putting them into a brokerage account to take advantage of long-term capital gains tax harvesting is great but you're still limited by the tax brackets you want to remain in.

The results of Roth conversions means you can withdraw earnings a few years down the road tax free without worrying about tax brackets.

Your beneficiaries also inherit your Roth IRA or Roth 401K and enjoy 10 years of tax free growth and withdrawals. Those withdrawals also don't count as taxable income so it won't affect where they stand in their tax bracket.

Once retired (no "earned income") you can contribute to a Roth IRA by doing Roth conversions: Fidelity can directly transfer funds from your tax deferred 401k into a Roth IRA.

If you take distributions from your tax deferred 401k into your bank account or taxable brokerage account, that money can no longer be contributed into a Roth IRA because retirement account distributions are not earned income.

At that point he will set up 72t distributions till I’m 59 and a half.

You need to continue taking those 72t distributions for five years or until you're 59 1/2 whichever is longer.

@ca
"Someone else already mentioned you cannot put money into a Roth unless you have earned income."

Yeah, it can be done.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/08/convert-401k-roth.asp
"Since you haven’t paid income taxes on that money in your traditional pretax 401(k) account, you will owe taxes for the year when you roll it over into a Roth IRA."

You can do that with partial distributions, but not with RMDs. I'm not in RMD territory yet, so, I need to fill up all 12% tax bracket with a distribution. Once I'm in RMDs, any 401k money above the RMD can go into the Roth. Of course, it is taxable.

It is a way to keep some money sheltered, because Roths aren't subjected to RMDs.

https://www.merrilledge.com/article/thinking-of-converting-to-roth-ira

• You can do a partial conversion — that is, convert a portion of your assets over two years or more, thereby spreading out your tax payments. You don't have to convert the entire account at once.*

You do enough to fill up the tax bracket you want filled up. I fill up 12%.

To OP

I retired early when I hit 56. Fortunate to have a significant amount in my 401k as I invested heavily (maxed contributions) for the final 15 years. I wish I would have maxed out Roth contributions my entire career. I told all the younger guys to start there. Max the Roth option first. Be that as it is I’m using the rule of 55 to take withdrawals on the 401k for another year. Working with my financial advisor I’ll probably roll the 401k into an ira next year. I plan on doing some part time work remodeling houses for a buddy so we will see what the income looks like. At that point he will set up 72t distributions till I’m 59 and a half.
On a side note….even though we had gone over the numbers 1000 times 1000 ways and the numbers all looked good it was still the scariest decision I’ve ever made but worth it. Good luck with your decisions and if you havnt already, just make sure you’re working with a fiduciary as an advisor.

@ca
Am curious about this. Is it worth adding to a Roth if you’re over 65? Unless investing for children’s inheritance etc wouldn’t it be the same as just opening a brokerage account? The tax savings don’t seem like they’d be a big advantage at that age given the extra money is coming from a tax credit. (Not exactly directed at you but just replying as a topic)

"Trump's extra over-65 $6000 deduction for the next 4 years means I'll be able to stick an extra $24k into the Roth."

A tax deduction is not a 1-to-1 tax reduction. You are only saving your marginal tax rate on that $6K, not the entire $6K. Please talk to a tax advisor. Someone else already mentioned you cannot put money into a Roth unless you have earned income. Ask them about that as well, and do it before the end of 2025!

Make sure you review the SPP for the pension if you decide to leave it in the company. Before I was surplused, the liabilities were higher than the cash available in the account which means if it runs out of money, you won’t get the full monthly payment you were expecting and it can decrease over time. I had planned to roll all of mine out anyway because I didn’t like the fact that if you die, you can’t will the balance to your children.

If you don’t want to take any risk, have fidelity to give you information on the best money market accounts. They compound monthly and you aren’t locked into any rate or time period to hold it. The rates fluctuate and you can see the 7 day average.

If you are under 59 1/2 and don’t want to pay the 10% penalty, you can set up a 72-T with will give you monthly distributions in any amount that you request.

You're in a cash balance pension , which yes, grows slowly. Company invests 5% of your salary into it yearly, and that's it. I feel fortunate to have it, as many hired afterwards do not, but it is what it is. Not tied to interest rates, etc. like a lot of the plans you read about..

When I am let go (I'm 55 and I think this is bound to be in the next year or 2 the way things are going)-- I will request Fidelity direct transfer roll that into lump sum into an IRA.

As someone else mentioned, when I was younger I wish I had put my 401K contribution into the Roth option . I have done well after 30 years, but it's all in Traditional. I thought about starting to contribute to Roth now, but at this point just kind of accepting I missed the boat on it. Will probably get with a tax advisor and end up converting some of that traditional over to Roth.

@ad

Good strategy, wish I had done that but the Big beautiful bill hadn’t passed until this year which gives 6k for senior SS recipients.

With the trillions of dollars being invested back into the US since new trade policies I expect the markets to soar over the next few years. It will take a minute for the upgrades and builds to be completed but hundreds of thousands jobs will be created. AI, chips, manufacturing, pharma, auto, ship bldg. etc.. are being on-shored for the future and security of the US. I see AT&T benefitting from the bo-m too, buckle up the financial golden age it is almost upon us. Unfortunately Stankey is doubling down on RTO, offshoring and any other way to reduce headcount, he is tone deaf.

I’m putting as much into the markets as I can afford, S&P 500 has averaged over 10% last 35 plus years so let the good times roll!

I'm retired, pre-RMD. I'm taking distributions now from the 401K and sticking them into a Roth. Fidelity will make out a trustee-to-trustee check, process works like a charm. Trump's extra over-65 $6000 deduction for the next 4 years means I'll be able to stick an extra $24k into the Roth.

When I go to Turbo Tax, it asks, did I take the money, or did I squirrel it away in a Roth. It's an above board, they know what you are doing type process.

Op thanks for the post. I’ve already learned a couple of things in the replies. I too have a ways before retirement and always looking for ways to secure my future because we don’t know what tomorrow brings and aren’t guaranteed even that. I try to be like the ant who puts up for the winter vs. the grasshopper who plays during the summer aka.. good times and dies during the winter.

I had already researched the Roth post tax option and will start putting more of my contributions in that vehicle. I’m also interested in investing a small amount into crypto if it becomes available, the President just signed an executive order to allow 401k to implement it as an investment. AT&T will probably be one of the last to have it as an option, they are slow to react on a lot of new things.

I’ve recently been putting the majority of my contributions into the Roth 401k to help offset RMD’s later in retirement, I’m up to 10% of my portfolio in Roth. I’ve learned from older relatives that they wished they had done that, all of their’s was in deferred tax and it has impacted them by not using a combination of both. They are paying more on their monthly Medicare payments and put them into a higher tax bracket.

Congratulations, according to stats a large percentage of Americans don’t have anything saved for retirement so you are ahead of the game. One thing I’ve been looking into is Structured Notes, they aren’t backed by the US govt. but my advisor says over the last 25 years that he has placed a lot of his high end clients into this product without any defaults. Of course there are risks and one should do their due diligence and only put in what they feel comfortable or willing to possibly lose.

Anyone else have any experience or knowledge of Structured Notes?

Should be common knowledge but If you leave, don’t have any retirement balances mailed or direct deposited into your saving/checking accts. for any length of time. You will face possible penalties if less than 59 1/2 and put you into a higher tax bracket. Fidelity, your financial advisor or any broker can assist. In a recent article I read, many people are just cashing out their retirement funds and losing a lot of money unnecessarily. There are a couple of exceptions to the rule if one is laid off after 56 years old.