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Applied to collect my first pension check

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by Joe, Oct 31, 2012.

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  1. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    I retired at 55 and I am now eligible to collect my first pension check at age 60.

    It's not much considering 35 years of service and what I hear other people collect, but I'll take $805 per month. Unfortunately, no inflation adjustments. It's fixed.

    It's funny, we were a private, employee owned company and we had an employee purchase stock program, which performed very well. This was always the excuse the company gave for a small pension. No complaints until they did an IPO and went public.

    IPO stock performed well ($19) but, the employees were prohibited from selling for 12 months. Once the lock was off, stock value dropped 70% and 7 years later, today's price is $5.51 per share.

    My decision is to just take the money now, rather then waiting until 65. I've already filed the papers, so need to tell me it's a bad move. Not even sure what happens if the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp ends up taking over. Just going to take the money now and run.:thumbsup:

    I feel for the people who won't have a pension down the road and must do all the savings on their own, especially with stats like this that less than 50% of Americans have $500 in savings:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/22/americans-savings-500_n_2003285.html
     
  2. blackjacknut

    blackjacknut VIP Whale

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    Congrats Joe for being able to retire at 55. I'm only 45 years old but I to have a plan to semi-retire at 55. I'm planning on staying in the public sector business world for another 10. Then when I retire I want to teach part-time at a university. I'm working on my PhD now and will have that completed in one more year.
     
  3. KellyLovesVegas

    KellyLovesVegas Earthling/retired space nerd

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    Congratulations, Joe, on retiring at 55. I'll be right there with you in 3 years. After retirement I plan to do part-time fitness and rehabilitation training at a sports medicine facility. It's something very people-oriented and distinctly different than the left-brained engineering I've done for nearly 30 yrs.
     
  4. RonDiaz

    RonDiaz Low-Roller

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    I'm 29 and assume I will be able to retire around 92... :drunk:
     
  5. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    No work for me! Every 3-4 weeks I go donate platelets at the blood center, but that's about it.:thumbsup:
     
  6. Frankr163

    Frankr163 High-Roller

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    Congrats Joe!
    I retired in may this year at age 54. I spent 31 years at UPS, and am very thankful that I have a very good pension as well as a 401K.
    It's pretty hard to switch gears into retirement mode after working 55 hrs a week, but I must admit it is starting to feel nice not to have to get up in the morning if I don't want to.
    I thought I might want to get a part-time job to transition, but that idea went out the window quickly, My only job now is to check out VMB several times a day.
    Enjoy your retirement and good luck.
     
    Anniversary Trip
  7. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    Yes, besides platelet donation,my other task is to be on VMB too many times per day and jeez I just realized in 5 more posts I'll be at 5,000. And I do love every thing Vegas related, except living there.
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2012
  8. UTE

    UTE Plastics

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    Sounds like a good plan, Joe. I bring up retirement regularly with my younger family members because they need to get on it and have a plan. Most of them will simply not have the retirement benefits our generation has. So, they need to start planning (and saving) early and make it work.

    I retired at 44 from military/law enforcement and have not looked back. Enjoy it, you've earned it.

    Bill
     
  9. leo21

    leo21 VIP Whale

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    My mother got a letter advising her of her options. They made it plain that there was no incentive to waiting until 65 to get distributions. The distribution options were structured in a way that made her feel that she should get as much out now as she could. There was nothing she could do to improve her distributions in the future so I had to agree with taking the max now.
     
  10. dfalk

    dfalk VIP Whale

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    Im jealous! I wish I was retired and got an extra $800 a month, I would take a trip to Vegas every 2 months.
     
  11. Joe Strummer

    Joe Strummer VIP Whale

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    I need 5 more years to get a decent pension.
    And I'm hearing my job is in jeopardy.
    I'm calling Labor Lawyers now ( my Union is worthless )-- budgets are being
    put together now for March.
    .
    In fact,yesterday, by accident, I had to introduce myself to the
    Head Muckity Muck -- who is cutting my head off.
    He didn't even know who I was by sight -- and
    I've been at this job for 15 years !
    It was hard to shake the @hole's hand..and smile.....really diffilcult.
    But -- "let the Executioner know there is a face and a person - to the name."
    .
    Good for you, Joe !:thumbsup:
     
  12. tatterdema

    tatterdema VIP Whale

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    Good for you Joe. I too hope to retire or semi-retire at about 55. I dont have a pension, but have been saving, and my mortgage will be paid off then. My only issue is going to be health care. To continue my current plan would cost me about $500 a month now (and thats a crappy plan). I am sure it will be much more in 5 years. There are a few jobs out there that you only have to work very part time to qualify for health care, so that might be the route I take.
     
  13. Turtleman

    Turtleman VIP Whale

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    Way to go Joe! Coincidently, my first pension deposit showed up this morning. It's not a fortune either, but I'm as thrilled to get it as I was thrilled to get our first royal last night at Ellis Island!
     
  14. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    Health care is a killer:evillaugh We both have to buy our own policies and we each have $5,000 deductibles before they pay a thing except for preventative care. This year both our premiums went up 21%:cry: and we filed no claims except for annual check-ups. Dreading the increase next year.:grrr:

    5 more years to Medicare and then you still have to buy supplemental insurance for the 20% Medicare doesn't cover and that's not cheap from what I understand. I haven't investigated that yet. I still have to live 5 more years:wink2:
     
  15. queuetee

    queuetee VIP Whale

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    So Joe, if you are collecting a pension, will you also be eligible to collect SS? That is the only way you can collect Medicare. The supplemental is around $100 a month, but there is also the additional policy for medicine, which is around $40.
     
  16. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    No, I'm taking my pension at age 60 while the company still has money in their pension plan:wink2:

    SS will wait until somewhere between 62-66 (most likely 62) and of course no Medicare until 65.
     
  17. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    Hey congrats Joe on your retirement. I will probably work another 5 to 7 years and retire past age 60 or 62. Wish I could retire already but I moved from job to job so I have to put in more years to get a better pension. I keep going to vegas and play the megabucks so I can win enough to retire but that hasn't panned out, lol.

    I'm lucky though, because I work for the local government we have good pensions (with years of service my pension should be around 70% of what I'm making now) and our health plan is covered until medicare kicks in. My mortage should be done by then also so I will only have my basic expenses to pay.

    Many of my friends have started to collect social security at age 62, many of them are afraid that that the government may raise the minimum 62 (for reduced benefits) and so are taking it out now before ss goes broke. I also have a deferred comp (like a 401k) that I can draw out that will make it easier for me to survive when I retire.


    Make sure you keep busy and keep your mind sharp. I have a few (male) relatives who retired and basically didn't do much. Many of them either had heart attacks from inactivity or passed away not long after retirement. I think it's because they didn't stay active and keep their mind sharp. My women friends seemed to keep active after retirement but my male friends seemed to enjoy the sedentary way of life, which didn't help their health much.

    As for me, I will probably find a part time job or something (in addition to golfing a few times a week) to keep me busy and active. I'm kind of lucky too, seems to be a slight demand for COBOL CICS programmers since most of the kids coming out of school have no idea what that is and many companies need someone to maintain their legacy systems. Let's hope that still rings true in 5 to 7 years.

    I'm jealous, can't wait until I can retire.

    PS, just wondering, how are you going to pay for your expenses and cost of living if you aren't going to be getting a pension for 5 more years? Just curious.

    Enjoy your retirement, you lucky dog!
     
  18. Jerseyguy

    Jerseyguy MIA

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    I retired at 55 ,12 years ago

    60% pension,bennys and now ss ,so with my wifes retirement and ira's and savings we cant really complain too much compared to a lot of people less fortunate.
    When I retired ,Mrs JG told me "listen ,you earned your retirement ,but I know you too well!Take as much time as you need,enjoy yourself ,do and go what or where ever,but youre stlill young ! get at least a small part time job to keep yourself out of trouble" Right now,I'm enjoying life so guess she figures I'm old enough to be trusted.
     
  19. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    I never did the math in terms of percent of pay.
    Less than 20%:cry:
     
  20. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    hey, whatever works with you. Also depends on your locale too. It will be very difficult to afford to live in hawaii on anything less than 50% of my pay. Although my mortage will be finished by the time I retire the other expenses will be a killer. Guess that's why some of my friends retired and moved elsewhere (vegas, thailand, montana (?), etc.).
     
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