Anyone know anything about pensions?

[Chicago526]

DH, once he retires, will get a pension from his union. I keep bugging him to get me the details so I can plug it in to the retirment calculators, but he always forgets.

Anyway, my question is this. Unless I have an accident, I'm about 99% guaranteed to outlive my DH ( ) because of on going health problems. If he dies before he retires, would I get any part of his pension? If he dies after he retires, do I get any part of his pension? Does this tend to vary by pension plan, or are they usually all the same? I know nothing about them, none of the companies I've ever worked for has had one. They've all been 401k's.

Of course the way pensions are going, it may be a moot point by the time we're old enough to collect, but I'd like to know so I can plan either way.

Any experiance or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[malibuconlee]

Find out everything you can about his pension.

I don't know a lot about them, you're right, they aren't as common as they used to be. I do know that one of my neighbors recieved meny from her husband's pension (retired railroad, he passed away after he retired). She's constantly fighting and trying to figure out why she's not getting the cost of living raises others seem to be getting.

Insist he bring information home, or that you want the number to the president of the union who can point you in the right direction to get more information.

 

[barkley]

you have to check with the individual's union. they can vary greatly.
mine was set up such that if i predeceased- my husband and kids would get a survivors benefit until my kids hit a certain age-then if any of my contributions were left it would cash out to whomever i had named as beneficiary.

when i retired i had the option of taking a lower benefit that would keep the benefit the same for my surviving spouse (for the remainder of their life), or i could have taken the higher benefit but my spouse would have only received about 50% of that (each month) after my death.

depending on which union he will retire out of-some have online retirement estimators, you plug in the years you've worked and your final salary (you can estimate) and an anticipated retirement date. you get an estimate on what he will recieve under different plan options.

he can also call the union and request a sit down meeting with you and him-they will spell out all of the benefits and options.

 

[dcfromva]

DH, once he retires, will get a pension from his union. I keep bugging him to get me the details so I can plug it in to the retirment calculators, but he always forgets.

Anyway, my question is this. Unless I have an accident, I'm about 99% guaranteed to outlive my DH ( ) because of on going health problems. If he dies before he retires, would I get any part of his pension? If he dies after he retires, do I get any part of his pension? Does this tend to vary by pension plan, or are they usually all the same? I know nothing about them, none of the companies I've ever worked for has had one. They've all been 401k's.

Of course the way pensions are going, it may be a moot point by the time we're old enough to collect, but I'd like to know so I can plan either way.

Any experiance or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Chicago526,

The rules vary according to the pension--whether you DH is vested, et'c.

I suspect there are a lot of folks who just don't know--it is a good first step that you are asking questions and trying to find out. I wonder if your DH's union sponsors a retirement seminar for his pension plan? Generally, the seminar is an excellant way to find out about all aspects of the plan and would help you know how much you need to be saving in suplimental savings. (Often, spouses are invited to attend. )

If they don't have seminars, maybe you and your DH could make an appointment with one of the plan administrators to help you find out answers to to your questions.

-DC

 

[Chicago526]

He'll be vested after 5 years of employment, so 2 more to go. I'll bug him again about it tomorrow! I'll at least find out exactly what union he belongs to (talking to DH about work is like pulling teeth!) and see if they have a website that will give me more info.

I'm socking away money in my own 401k, but I just want to know how DH's pension will fit in with what I'm doing. I want to open a Roth IRA in the next year or two and that will put even more things into the retirement pot, so I'd like to get some idea of what kind of numbers I should be looking at.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[goodeats]

Yes, unless your husband works for a very powerful union (i.e. Long Shoreman, Teachers, etc) you should not rely on the pension. Well, regardless I suppose you shouldn't rely on the pension.

My Grandfather was a Fireman and retired and received a pension. He passed away and my Grandmother now collects the benefit. I think she does get the COL raises because last time she told me how much she got I almost fainted. She was making more than I was! Of course, my Grandma does tend to get confused sometimes, as they are wont to do.

But yes, it's good to learn about them.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

As a general rule of federal law, pensions will provide a survivor benefit if the person is married at the time the pension starts unless the spouse specifically waives the survivor benefit.

When my late wife and I both retired our pensions (under different systems) were each reduced by 10% to provide a survivor benefit. I Now get an amount which is equal to 50% of her full benefit (before the reduction) and my pension no longer has the 10% reduction as I am not married. If I ever remarry I will then investigate if I can have a pension reduction again to provide a survivor benefit for my new wife.

 

[figment52]

Any retirement plan I have ever been a part of required the spouse to agree to anyone else being a beneficiary with a notarized statement. So your DH could not name anyone else but you as beneficiary without your knowledge. The only exception is if he failed to update the paperwork after you married. Most companies have an annual review of the participants information to make sure documents do reflectcurrent martial status etc.

I get calls on a regular basis from employees' spouses asking to send information home with them or just mail it to the house rather than give it out. It is pretty entertaining, they talk about their husbands like they are 5 yo rather than grown.

 

[RADOPT]

You need to check the plan. My mom got none of my dad's when he passed away.

 

[MrsPete]

Anyway, my question is this. Unless I have an accident, I'm about 99% guaranteed to outlive my DH ( ) because of on going health problems. If he dies before he retires, would I get any part of his pension? If he dies after he retires, do I get any part of his pension? Does this tend to vary by pension plan, or are they usually all the same? I know nothing about them, none of the companies I've ever worked for has had one. They've all been 401k's.

Pensions vary from job to job, and they're becoming quite rare these days. I can tell you what's true for MY PENSION:

If I work 30 years, I'll have a full pension and basic medical insurance paid for life (and I can buy my spouse's insurance at group rates). If I work fewer than 30 years, I'll have a pro-rated pension and I can buy my medical care at group rates.

When I retire, I will be required to make a decision about how I want my pension to be paid (I may not have these details exactly right, but the general idea is correct). This decision will be for life. Options:

1. I will receive a payment of X amount for the rest of my life. When I die, my beneficiary (in my case, my husband) will receive nothing.
2. I will receive something like 70% of X amount for the rest of my life. When I die, my beneficiary will receive something like 50% for the rest of his life.
3. My beneficiary will receive something like 50% of my pension for the rest of his life (this would be for a person who, perhaps, has a disabled child and wants to see the child receive something small for life).

Obviously, since I'm 15 years away from retirement, I can't possibly make this decision today -- and regardless, it's going to be something of a guess or a bet.

At this point, I'd say I'm likely to outlive my husband by at least a decade, so I'd probably choose option 1. However, it's possible that I'll develop some horrible disease as retirement approaches, and I might end up going for one of the other options.

You should ask your husband to pick up a retirement benefits handbook from his office. It'll probably answer all your questions.

 

[JuneChickie]

You do need to get your hubby to get the information for you. They probably will tell you if you call thats it in his name so he needs to request a packet be sent to the house , home or whatever. My hubby is suppose to get a pension too,, he is vested
by about 25 years and now we are worried that he won't get a nickle of it. Because
the company may go out of business and supposely it hasn't been funded like
it was 'SUPPOSED" to have been all the years. We have no 401 or ira or any of
the other types of savings account. So please , please don't depend on hubbys
pension as a retirement . Start some sort of savings plan for yourself if you can.
This way if his works out ,, great ,,,,yours will be extra,,,,, it his doesn't for some
unknown reason,, then you two will have yours to fall back on. My hubby
can't retire now because we don't know if his pension will be there "or not" .

 

[Chicago526]

You do need to get your hubby to get the information for you. They probably will tell you if you call thats it in his name so he needs to request a packet be sent to the house , home or whatever. My hubby is suppose to get a pension too,, he is vested
by about 25 years and now we are worried that he won't get a nickle of it. Because
the company may go out of business and supposely it hasn't been funded like
it was 'SUPPOSED" to have been all the years. We have no 401 or ira or any of
the other types of savings account. So please , please don't depend on hubbys
pension as a retirement . Start some sort of savings plan for yourself if you can.
This way if his works out ,, great ,,,,yours will be extra,,,,, it his doesn't for some
unknown reason,, then you two will have yours to fall back on. My hubby
can't retire now because we don't know if his pension will be there "or not" .

Oh, believe me, I've been socking away money in my 401k for 7 years now, long before I meet DH. Not only will I continue, but I hope to increase my contributions in the next year or two (we've got debt to pay off first). I'd also like to start a Roth IRA in addition to the 401k. No way no how am I counting on DH's pension (or social security for that matter).

The good news is that the union runs the pension, not the company. I guess that means that even if the company goes under (unlikely, if you knew who he works for, you'd agree) he's still going to get his pension. But I'm still not counting on it. I just want to get an idea of what we/I might get, if everything works out the way it should.

Thank you, everyone. I'll keep nagging DH about it until he gets me more info.

 

[barkley]

another thing you might want to get ahold of is a copy of his MOU (memorandum of understanding)-all union employees have a right to a copy.

with union administered pension plans it can be realy strange-some have your pension plan determined by the date of hire, some whatever is in effect the date you become vested in the system. there can also be provisions wherein he has to choose a retirement plan (or tier) within so many days of being vested. my former employer (govenment covered by union) had different tiers of retirement and the employee could choose to contribute more and reap a better pension or chose to contribute to the minimum tier plan and reap...well not much. but an employee had to opt in or out of the better plan within 6 months of vesting or lose the opportunity forever.

also-although he's not vested it does'nt mean he might not be eligible for disability pension should the need arise. some pensions provide that in the event of a disabling injury or illness the "vesting" requirement is waived and a flat percentage of final wage becomes the disability pension. this can be valuable if you are considering purchasing permanant disability insuance (he may already have it by virtue of the pension plan).

 

[The Disney Bunch]

He needs to check with his union rep to see what type of pension plan is set up. To be honest with you - if he has 2 years to go, I wouldn't count on it - so much can happen in 2 years & the plan may not be there. Generally benefits are set up to pay the person the benefit unless there is something in the plan that allows for spousal benefits. If that is the case, then the benefit is reduced. He has to ask questions at his place of employment. If he is a participant, than he shuld have received a Plan Summary outlining a lot of your questions.

 

[Chicago526]

Thanks, everyone. I asked DH last night if he could get some info on it. He said "Uh, yeah, I guess...why do you want it?" Gee, I don't know, why WOULD I want info on our retirement plan? DH can be such a goon sometimes!

Also looking into our insurance situation (life insurance, disability, etc.). Isn't being a grownup fun?