anyone with experience on large companies/bankrupcy/pensions

[Dznypal]

my DH retired from a large company that he worked for 33 years at--which filed for chapter 11 bankrupcy(they filed for the re-organizing chapter--I think its 11)

they were told a long time ago by the union that the com took out some sort of government insurance that would protect

the pensions--probably every com is different in how they handle pensions-
can companies really just not pay pensions anymore

any advice would be very helpful--thanks all

 

[SteveMouse]

See the U.S. government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation website, https://www.pbgc.gov

 

[Sarah'sMomfrom PA]

My husband's company went bankrupt and he was employed there for 38 years. The pension was not funded the way that they said it was. He collects his pension from the PBGC and gets about a third of what he should have gotten. How this was explained to us (because DH was hesitant to take the pension when the company closed) that at the time, if another airline went belly up, the monthly amount who disappear at any time. Thus he started to take his pension.

 

[tvguy]

No way for us to tell. Depends on how it is set up. He could get 100% of his pension, none, or any percentage in between.
Private sector pensions are getting rarer and rarer just because it is safer to have a 401k plan. Public sector pensions are bankrupting government agencies because benefits are often way too generous for what the agency and the employee put in.
My first employer our of college folded their pension plan in 1979 and just gave everyone a week's pay to spend or put in their IRA. Within a few years 401Ks came into being and they switched to those. My current employer was forced by government regulations to fold their plan. It was in addition to the 401k. There was some issue with highly compensated employees getting an unfair advantage in the plan.