Update on Pensions

Got this in response to the pension post.

" have to agree. My father worked for a large corporation who had the reputation of laying middle-aged people off when they got close to being vested--so the pension was worthless. Long after he left, people started filing age discrimination lawsuits about it.

Just recently, I was talking to someone who worked at K-Mart for many years. She and a group of other workers were given the choice of retiring and taking their pensions, or going down to part-time. Amongst her group, the monthly pensions ranged from $15 to less than $100. $15 a month? That's a slap in the face!"

I am not cynical enough to believe that no firm has an obligation to its employees and that employees have no loyalty to their employers.  But it is a matter of degrees.  The company always has a right to fire you and you always have the right to quit.  In a perfect world, neither would happen but, of course, our world is less than perfect.   

Your company is evaluating you every day.  Just don't freak out over it.  At the ceremony where my son got his Air Force navigator wings a general was giving them advice on how to handle their future assignments.  He said don't worry about reviews because, as Patton said, you are under review every day.  Once you get over that hurdle, life becomes a bit easier.  Annual reviews are no fun, especially if you are unprepared.  One boss of mine got caught with his objectives down one year.  Since then he kept his objective taped to his desk where he saw them every day.   So what does this have to do with pensions?  Everything.  If you truly feel and document that you have done a good job then you have fulfilled your obligation to your employer.

If your employer does things like fire people when they come near a pension, your company is not fulfilling its obligation to you.  And if it is doing things like that, it is doing other bad things and eventually they will be caught, go out of business or both.  But eventually is a long time.  If you really work for an unethical, dishonest company, start your job search-NOW.

How about the K-Mart pensions?  Not good but not surprising.  They certainly reneged on their obligations to their employees.  They also reneged on a lot of other obligations because they went bankrupt.  Check out your company's health on a regular basis.  Financial results up or down?  Management great or a bunch of morons?  (Be objective here.)  If the company offers a pension it is probably an old company and old companies often have problems.  Figure out what they are and see if things are turning around or turning south.

Finally, only you can make decisions for you.  If you get fired, or retired, or your pension bounces--well, stuff happens.  Scream and yell and cry for an hour.  Kick the dog.  Then do something.  Take control of your life as miserable as it may seem right now. 

Actually the process should not begin there.  It should happen every day.  Evaluate your career, your company and your pension or 401(k) daily.  Make a plan for the contingency of getting canned.  It doesn't mean jump necessarily.  It does mean you have a plan.  Having a plan when something happens means you are one step ahead of everybody else.  Because again, only you can make decisions for you.

Comments

[Freddie L. Sirmans]

You have a very interesting blog.