Do most of you have pensions????

[crjack]

I have enjoyed reading many of the threads on retirement planning and have noticed that many people refer to pensions as part of their overall plan. DH and I work in different fields from one another but neither one of us has ever worked for a company that offers a pension. It never seemed unusual to me since I typically thought most private sector businesses were fading them out but they seem so popular on many of the threads I have read I wondered if it is our particular professions or age or other factors??

For those of you without, do you try and plan accordingly with more money invested into 401K and other options?

Just wondering if our plan varies much from others who don't have pensions. DH is 41 and I am 40 so we know we have many more years of work and investing ahead of us but it's nice to get ideas and thoughts from others in similar situations.

 

[Chickysmom]

No pensions here but hubby does contribute quite a bit to 401K. I think the pension thing goes along with more state/coutny/city jobs and such than in the private sectors. Too bad really....

 

[indylaw99]

I'll have a small pension from working as an attorney for LexisNexis. They have great benefits--pension, 401K, employee stock plan, etc. I'll only be there 6.5 years before I leave, but it will draw interest for 20+ (hopefully!) years before I need it.

I'm not really counting on it as part of our retirement fund, however, because we have seen so many company pension plans go belly-up over the last decade. I fear that is just going to continue to happen.

 

[dvcgirl]

I have enjoyed reading many of the threads on retirement planning and have noticed that many people refer to pensions as part of their overall plan. DH and I work in different fields from one another but neither one of us has ever worked for a company that offers a pension. It never seemed unusual to me since I typically thought most private sector businesses were fading them out but they seem so popular on many of the threads I have read I wondered if it is our particular professions or age or other factors??

For those of you without, do you try and plan accordingly with more money invested into 401K and other options?

Just wondering if our plan varies much from others who don't have pensions. DH is 41 and I am 40 so we know we have many more years of work and investing ahead of us but it's nice to get ideas and thoughts from others in similar situations.

We have no pensions and so yes, we are saving accordingly. It changes the amount of retirement savings that we have to come up with...bigtime. A $40,000 per year pension is the equivalent of having saved one million dollars, and so we'll need quite a big amount if we'd like to maintain our currently lifestyle.

We are 38 and 37. We have been actively investing in our 401Ks since we were in our early 20s, both maxing them out by our mid to late 20s. My DH's current 401k is with his employer. I have a self-employed 401K which allows me to do 15K this year plus 25% of my profits....which is an awesome perk. We maxed out two Roths for as long as we qualified, but no longer do. Now everything beyond the 401Ks is in taxable accounts. We're just about to switch to a high deductible health plan so we can open up a health savings account. We'll treat that as a 401K for medical expenses down the road in retirement. Once in our 50s, we'll do the catch-up in our 401ks as well.

I think the key is to get as much as you can into those 401ks and Roths....anything that has a tax advantage. That's really the mega problem in starting to save for retirement later in life. It's not just the dollars catch-up that you have to play, but the loss in opportunity by not taking advantage of maxing out those 401ks and Roths when you could. Beyond that, if you can save more, make sure that you are in funds that are adequately managed from a tax standpoint so you see a nice return.

 

[crzy4dsny]

The one good thing about my job, NYPD, is the pension. 20 years and out. Half pay plus a $12,000 variable supplement. Your pension is based on your last few years of service. So if you can knock out a ton of overtime you can do ok. I'll be 42 years old when I "retire".

 

[crisi]

I had a pension in an early job. They cashed it out after I left and sent me a check which I was instructed to roll over into an IRA or pay tax consequences. I haven't had a pension since.

 

[spiceycat]

so far work has kept our pension plan. we also have 401-k too.... I don't contribute anything to the pension. I contribute at least 7% (work matches 4%) - would like to contribute around 10 to 20% - but I got to get out of debit first....

Alots of similar companies have done away with the pension plan. but so far my company is kepting it....I hope they continue to do it.

I am hoping to live off my pension and SS and not even touch my 401-K - that would be my emergency fund.

very happy with the return on 401-K it averages out to be around 12%. low for some but high for most....

 

[Kramer]

I have a pension plan at my job thanks to the State of NJ...

If I work:

30 years I can retire with a pension of 70% of my final years salary.
25 years I can retire with a pension of 65% of my final years salary.
20 years I can retire with a pension of 50% of my final years salary.

There is also currently a state law on the books that would bump each of those numbers up 5% if the pension plan reaches 104% funded anytime in the future.

Right now I am pretty much certain that I will pack it in after 25 years (12 years from now). I will be 47 years old and I like the idea of taking a couple years off to stay at home with my kids. Then I plan to go back to work and do something productive. My goal right now would be to get a job, any job, at the local University because after a year of employment I can send my kids to college there for free. So I will do just about anything there but clean toilets to foot the college bill.

I also contribute to a 457 plan at work and kick more money into 529 plans for the kids in case the aforementioned second career doesn't pan out. Oh.. I also put money into a Roth IRA every quarter as well.

 

[Julia M]

Both dh and I have pensions, which sets us apart from many of our friends. We live in Silicon Valley, where most companies do not have pensions.

Dh works for an aerospace company. They recently announced that they would not be adding new employees to their pension, although at this time, nothing has changed for those currently in the system.

I work for a school district, so have the teachers state retirement. I have only worked part time since my kids were born, so I accrue pretty slowly. I will probbaly put in a few years at fullt ime before I retire, since the pay out is based on your last few years of pay.

Julia

 

[franco]

No pension, 10% of salary goes into 401K. Wife and I both contribute max to Roth IRA's

 

[EthansMom]

At DH's current company, there has been a pension and the company has also matched 401k contributions 50% of the first 6% the employee contributes. However, the company is changing over and encouraging employees to give up future pension contributions and instead take a 100% match of the employee's first 8% put into the 401k. DH is definitely taking the increased 401k match -- heck 8% in the 401k now beats a pension in the far future.

 

[azgal81]

I have a pension I work through a local university. I have not invested in another 401K/Ira plan yet I am only 25. Right now putting in 7% of my income in my retirement fund through them and having them match it 100% is enough for me. Plus it's gaining quite a bit of interest. Once I am around 30 I will probably open another plan maybe a few years sooner then that.

 

[Jon99]

My wife has a pension thru the State of Illinois, if she puts in 35 years she gets 75% of her highest years salary. With accumulated unused sick days, she will be done after 33 years at this pace.

 

[Lyn5]

DH and I both have pensions (or should have pensions) at retirement. We both are also both entitled to medical benefits, although my benefit will likely be better than his. Hawaii is an expensive place to live, but after reading a lot of the post here recently, I am thankful we have a more regulated health care system. I do not know a single person around me (work, friends, family, neighbors, etc.) that does not have some kind of basic health insurance.

 

[DVC Sadie]

I have a pension from the Air Force. We also socked away almost half of our income so we could retire early. We withdraw 5% a year but still keep putting money back into our retirement accounts since we don't know how long we will live. I am 51 and my dh is 44 so we could conceivably live another 40, 45 or more years.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I will have a miniscule pension from the state of Florida (about $500/month after 14 years employment) but hope to get in at least 6 more years with the state (eventually--I'm currently working for a private employer) to up my pension to $1000/month. 16 more years would bump it up to about $2000/month but it's very unlikely I would want to work that long (I'm 49 and plan to retire at 63).And we're socking away money into my 403B. DH is self-employed and does have an IRA but we are mainly contributing to my 403b.

A nice part of being retired from the state is if we do retire at 63 as we are planning, we are eligible to purchase excellent group medical insurance at the group rate for state employees.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Ok, fess up. Who else miss read this title at 1st and thought it was an entirely different topic?

I know I am not alone.

DH gets a pension from work, but not sure of the details. It is pretty good since he teachs college and education unions are pretty good. I know your reitrement is based on who much you were making (total class load) in your last 2 years so many professors take on extra classes for the last 2 years before they retire.

 

[rlduvall]

Ok, fess up. Who else miss read this title at 1st and thought it was an entirely different topic?

I know I am not alone.

I didn't notice it until you mentioned it. I almost spit out my water.

I must say my current job is incredible for the benefits. But, before I mention them, for many years I worked where there were no benefits, except for health insurance, etc. . . . and I didn't appreciate it because I was still a kid. Anyway, my employer has a fully funded pension plan that is the type of plan that cannot be eliminated because of Federal regulations. I never can remember what that's called. I should receive about $2,000. a month at age 62, I am now 41 BUT, besides that, they put the maximum 15% contribution every year, on March 31st, into each employees' 401(k), which is actually called a 401(a) because the employee cannot contribute any due to it being the max. Aren't I so lucky??? Of course, we are expected to work at all times and not be on the disboards during work.

 

[blanq]

I work in county government and have a pension through our state of Minnesota PERA (Public Employee Retirement Association). I also have a deferred compensation plan (like a 401K), but my employer does not contribute to it. My public pension is not as near as good as some of those who have posted on this thread. I will be working until I am 62 and will not be able to retire with any decent income level until then. I don't know how long our pension plans will exist, as I know there is movement throughout the country to get rid of traditional public employee pensions. They are costing the tax payers a lot of money, and California, Illinois and Colorado are states that are in big trouble with their public employee pensions and have severely underfunded them. Our legislature is in session and there was a bill introduced to do away with our traditional pensions, but I heard it is dead for this session. Many public employees trade good salaries in the private sector for lesser salaries in government work with the understanding that they get some good benefits, including a pension.

My DH works in a power plant, for a utility and he does have a traditional pension as well, and his employer contributes a minimal amount to his 401K (around $1K per year) and to his ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). A few years ago they gave employees the option of keeping their traditional pension, or of going to a portable pension option and all new employees no longer have the option of the traditional pension. DH stuck with his traditional pension, as he has the rule of 90 and almost 20 years inwith his company. Many private companies are going the route of portable pensions as they don't want long term liability to their retirees and so many newer employees do not believe they will stick with one company their entire career.

 

[j's m]

DH and I own a small business, just us and one full timer and one part timer. We don't have a pension since if we did for ourselves, we would also have to contribute for our employees. Also no 401's.

Our only tax deferred savings are IRA's, which really doesn't allow us to put much away each year. Our retirement savings is really just our regular savings, after tax and we pay tax on the interest every year.