Oooh...I may get to switch my tiny HP pension to a lump sum payout

[magical thyme]

Just got a big thing in the mail. Personal details will be mailed next week. I have from Jan 21 to March 6 to make the change.

Iirc, way back in the early 90s when I was at DEC, I got a statement saying there was ~7-8K in my tiny pension fund. And I have a vague memory of an HP statement saying my benefit would be $300/mo starting when I turn 65.

On the one hand, my mother lived to 87; father still alive at 91. I'm 61+ and healthy. If I live to 80 and my pension isn't stolen, it will have paid out $72K. If I make 90, 100K+.

On the other hand, I've been living in fear that HP or it's creditors will grab the pension fund when they ultimately go down.

If the lump sum is enough (would have to be a bucketload more than $7K though) I'm all excited at the prospect of rolling it into an IRA. Maybe I could use it to pay off the odious student loans and be debt-free again....

[hollysmom]

1. I kept my pension in a monthly payout

and have been very happy I did that, I had a friend who took the one time payout and her money is all gone. I get 450 a month and am happy ab out that works in my budget just fine.

[blackcrow]

2. the problem with a monthly payout

is that twenty years later it's enough to buy a tunafish sandwich.

OP, do some number crunching (you probably know this) and see what that lump sum will be if you invest it safely and get a reasonable rate of return.

[magical thyme]

3. yup. my other fear is that the monthly payment will be further shrunk if

HP goes down and a court awards pension money to creditors. The corporate world owns everything these days. We're just useless eaters in their universe.

Yup, I'm going to roll it out of there. I'll probably open an IRA with the client that I provide customer support for. I know all their rules and ins and outs, they're totally no-load and they have 4 funds that are 4-stars with morningstar. They have performed quite well. I can put it into a money market there until the market bottoms out, if it hasn't by then, and then exchange it into the funds I want.

I'm just really hoping it will be enough to set me free...