Do you have a pension?

[underpants]

A professionally managed (not you) pension? You or anyone in your house? Not a 401K.

59 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes - to all four parts
	33 (56%)
	No
	26 (44%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[dawg]

1. You may need to be more specific.

I voted no. I have a Roth IRA that I invest in mutual funds. (Well, actually one mutual fund - the Vanguard Total World Stock Index Fund.)

Lots of people might think the fact that their 401(k) is invested in mutual funds means they are "professionally managed", but I don't think that is what you mean.

[underpants]

2. I changed it.

[MichMan]

3. I have an IRA that is with a management group acting as a fiducuary

Last edited Sun Feb 23, 2020, 12:41 PM - Edit history (3)

I voted no because it isn't a "pension" even though it is professionally managed

Also a small 401k with a current employer, but several years ago I consolidated all my other 401k balances into one IRA. Planning on retirement in a year or so

[Cirque du So-What]

4. I do, but it's a shadow of its former self

By the time I was eligible to take retirement, the supplemental medical benefits were gone and the company had tried - twice - to renege on their obligations and apply for corporate welfare.

[Fresh_Start]

5. I have one that will not generate enough money per month to feed a cat...

it is better than not having one...but won't do a lot for us

[mokawanis]

6. State employee for 35 years

pension allowed me to retire at 58. Money is managed by one of the best employee trust funds in the country, here in Wisconsin.

[Happy Hoosier]

7. Yes, but.....

By the time I retire, the pension income will be a pittance. The vast majority of my retirement income will come from my 401K.

[49jim]

8. NYSTRS

New York State Teacher Retirement System. One of the best in the country. Allowed me to retire at 52 w/ full benefits after 31 years......had a second career as a Community College instructor (Pre- School) Education for 14 years and now enjoying full retirement at 70. I have medicare and my secondary insurance is fully covered by the school district I worked in. This is provided through the collective bargaining process my union participated in the 90's.

[Raftergirl]

21. My mom who is 90

has been collecting her NYS Teachers pension for 35 years. It’s fantastic.

[Polly Hennessey]

9. Yes. I am under the old CSRS pension

with the federal government. I also have a fund managed through a financial advisor. I was able to save money through the TSP; however, I receive no social security.

[Generic Brad]

10. I've been covering all my bases

I am expecting Social Security, pension, 401k, IRA income. I am currently on track to make more income in retirement than I do now.

[GoCubsGo]

11. I do, unless GA Gov. Kemp and his cronies have gutted the Teacher's Retirement System.

If they haven't stolen it yet, they will eventually.

[essme]

12. I am surprised at the % of DU'ers with defined benefit plans.

We must have a huge number of teachers, local gov't and state/federal employees.

Most of those defined benefit plans are reasonably secure. Some more than others:

https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/centers/mrcbg/files/AWP_92_final.pdf

That's for 2018 so some plans may have changed.

[FBaggins]

52. Yes... though the question is still less precise than probably intended

A defined-contribution plan doesn't have to be a 401(k) and would qualify for a "yes"

[sorcrow]

53. Don't forget military. nt

[Bettie]

13. That is super funny

very few people under the age of about 60 have any form of defined benefit pension.

They were raided and no longer exist.

Most of us under that age will work until we either die or win the lottery.

[JenniferJuniper]

16. Most people will not be physically and/or mentally able to

work until they die.

It will be a huge problem for younger baby boomers on down. And a huge problem for society in general.

[BeyondGeography]

30. Roger that

I’m gobsmacked by the poll results so far. Who are all these people with pensions?

[Bettie]

33. Older people and

people who work for jobs that still have unions (teachers, state/federal workers).

[Bradshaw3]

38. Mine is a big one for state workers

Only reason I am retired is because of it (Social Security wouldn't be enough). My state pension covers state workers, police, teachers, etc. Only way they can change it or take it away is through a constitutional amendment requiring two thirds of the voters approval. I feel good about it.

[BeyondGeography]

40. When I entered the workforce in the 80s 401ks were becoming a thing

Some rudimentary calculations quickly revealed which side of the employee/employer relationship was making out on the deal. About the same time the price of the house I grew up in was 10x higher than when my father bought it 20 years earlier. Right then I knew that absent a winning lottery ticket my generation was up against it compared with his. This is the stuff Warren knows inside out of course.

[Bradshaw3]

41. Yes funny about that

We had a stock broker talk to our small shop one day in the late 90s telling us how great it was to invest. I asked how he knew it was going to keep going up and up considering past history and never got a straight answer. About three years later it went bust. Back up now but it will go down again; like Vegas you only hear about the winners, never the losers.

[hack89]

57. Retired military in my case

My present company also has a pension as well as a 401K.

[BeyondGeography]

58. That's great

Highly unusual, rare even.

Not asking my original question out of envy; I’ve been fortunate and can’t complain. The more economically secure people we have in this country the better. Behavior is changing with the times. The next pension crisis (and it’s coming) will take a big chunk out of what’s left of defined benefit pensions. And we have monetized necessities to the point where the essentials chew up a much bigger chunk of income than in decades past. I have a daughter in her 20s who is much more careful with her money than I was at that age. They have to be.

[hack89]

59. I fully understand how fortunate I am

that is partly why I am a Democrat - to help others get what I have.

[safeinOhio]

14. Yes, thank you

Ford/UAW. Also got a free college education and degree.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

15. Several. Supposedly. We'll see when the day comes.

[Hortensis]

17. This. The chaos Russia is sowing would destroy many.

That's in a nation already seriously destabilized since 1980 by the massively corrupt conservative cabals that the people, in their wisdom, have been giving control of most of our governments to during that period.

And, of course, the same anti-government conservative power blocs, who already control most of the federal judiciary, are appallingly close to being able to have Social Security and Medicare declared unconstitutional.

That last is for those who don't have pensions but imagine they're safe.

[trof]

18. PBGC has my failed TWA pension.

[Blaukraut]

19. Husband has military retirement pension

It's not enough to live on, but he's employed still, so we can squirrel most of it away for larger expenses.

[shanti]

28. My mother is a military widow

and collects from dad's account since he died. Thank Dog.

[Raftergirl]

20. I haven't worked in 27 years

but H will be retiring from govt service with a very large pension (plus health care which won’t cost us anything - even Medicare when the time comes as that’s paid for with accrued sick leave - which H hasn’t taken even one in almost 30 years.)

He has a 403B account we’ve been putting into for 30 years and Roth’s, plus other regular investment funds.

[a la izquierda]

22. Nope! And I'm an employee of the state of WV.

Just a measly old 401K.

[Raftergirl]

24. Does WV have no ension plan for

govt employees or has it been phased out for newer tiers?

[a la izquierda]

44. I'm assuming it doesn't. I've worked here for 6.5 years

[DFW]

23. I don't. My wife does

I still work, She doesn't. She draws a taxable monthly pension of a whopping €850 a month. We'll both be 68 this year. At least she is on the mostly good German version of medicare. I am on American BSBC, which is to say, virtually nothing at all. I have an American Roth IRA for which I paid the taxes up front and in full over ten years ago. In the States, what's in there should be all mine, but the Germans want 50%, and if both governments take out a total of 89.6%, that leave me little left. The Double Taxation Treaty was written before the Roth IRA became law, so the Germans pretend there is no such thing. Heil Honecker.

Let's just say, it's a good thing I'm still working.

[sinkingfeeling]

25. Yes, lifetime pension from IBM and a 403B from University.

[Staph]

34. I also have the old school IBM pension.

And my 96-year-old mother has pensions from my father's various university teaching jobs.

We are both very lucky to have little economic worries!

[redstatebluegirl]

26. My husband will have one if the state we live in doesn't mess with it.

I don't have one because I will not have enough years in since I stopped for a while due to health issues. I rolled what little I had into one we manage but it is very small. Without my husband and SS I would be on the street.

[shanti]

27. CalPers and SS

No 401k, but I'm fine with it, and don't need any more. It's all good. As a single woman for many years, I worked hard to make sure I wouldn't end up an old bagwoman on the street, and thankfully, it worked. CalPers has an awesome pension plan, and allowed me to retire at 55 after 21 years. CalPers is still going strong, but the benefits have changed for new hires since I retired.

[phylny]

29. My husband, and by extension, I have

a lifetime pension from Big Oil. Medical insurance, dental, prescription coverage as annuitants. 401k as well

My husband has Medicare now, but I’m still on his insurance as primary until I’m 65. We pay for it, but the rate is reasonable. I’ll file for social security in March and take mine early (62). He’ll take his at 66 and 2 months. Screw the politicians who raised the age you can take your full payment.

[2naSalit]

31. Yeah...

It's called SSDI. It's what I get for busting my ass as a working class hero for 50 years.

[Fritz Walter]

32. Yep

Although covered by a well-performing “defined-benefit” pension plan, I took-to-heart some advice I got 40+ years ago. “Most people (who get in $ trouble) don’t plan to fail; they fail to plan.”
Started throwing $20/paycheck into an option to augment the pension. About double what I was paying for cable TV each month.
Then — when it became available — I contributed to a 403(b)7 fund: pre-tax “defined contribution” plan with no match. When they added a 401(k) plan with a match, I jumped on that.
Got a windfall a few years later, and opened an IRA.

Even though I retired 4 years ago, I haven’t withdrawn any of those savings. I did move the dollars from all those various buckets to Rollover IRA thanks to my Credit Union’s investment advisor.

I just hope they don’t go “poof” if/when Putin tanks our economy through his puppets.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

35. I have both

I was able to take my pension as a lump sum and roll it into a managed account. I also rolled my 401K into an account that I manage.

[Mosby]

36. Anyone else surprised by this result?

Only 13% of non union private sector workers have pensions.

[mnhtnbb]

37. Survivor's benefit to my husband's Federal CSA

which he earned working as a psychiatrist for the Veterans Administration.

[Igel]

39. Various.

I have an IRA sort of thing.

I have state-sponsored pensions. In two states (one trivial, one worth watching). They're DCPs.

There's OASDI.

Wife has the same set of things.

[Skittles]

42. a long frozen one

[MissB]

43. Dh and I both have pensions

His is what we call a “beer” pension. It’ll buy enough to buy a few 6-packs of beer each month. (He also has a 401k; same employer for ~32 years and the first few years he vested into the pension before they switched to a 401k). He will get social security too.

I have a government pension, both defined benefit and defined contribution. The benefit is based on a formula of years of service, avg highest 3 years of salary and a multiplier. I also get the defined contribution, which is a small amount of $ in comparison to the defined benefit. I don’t control either of these plans. And I have a 457 plan plus will have social security. I’m too young to retire, but retirement should be just fine.

[hunter]

45. No, but I have some practice being a homeless person.

My grandma was a crazy bag lady who managed to keep herself together forty hours a week long enough to collect a pension. Her life outside work was always a flaming catastrophe. I'm not sure she could have pulled that off in the modern world.

After she retired she was removed from her home as a danger to herself and others.

No retirement community or assisted living place would tolerate her for long so she'd end up living with my parents.

I wouldn't want to inflict that kind of crazy on anyone, with or without a pension, but the way I figure it I'm only a quarter my grandma, hopefully lacking the "danger to others" component.

[A Brand New World]

46. Yes, retired from state of Ohio 2 years ago with 21 years of service.

[llmart]

47. Yes, I have two.

Been collecting on them since I was 60. One from state government position where I was a union member and the other from one of the big three auto companies.

However, I saved the max in my IRA for 35 years, so I started drawing from that this year. All this along with my Social Security and I'm very comfortable.

[Skittles]

54. maybe you could pony up a few bucks for a DU star

yes indeed

[Xolodno]

48. Yes...but it was frozen at....

...the end of 2018.

Company decided instead to contribute 4% directly to our 401(k). I wouldn't be surprised later they "grandfather" it into just current employees in a few years. Then when some of the younger people start to age....they drop it. And just like that, the "pension" is no longer a company expense.

[oasis]

49. Not gonna tell ya, wouldn't be prudent.

[radical noodle]

50. IBEW

for me and teacher retirement for my husband.

[GanjaGrower]

51. Millennials: "What's a pension?"

[NBachers]

55. Still working at 70; still paying into my 401k; waited 'till 70 to collect SS for the best payout.

[pansypoo53219]

56. my mom has a few, my grandpa pere had 1, grandpa mare? had his stolen.