Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

Wouldn’t quite say it’s worthless but 12 years ago I vowed I would never stick around and work for a pension. Best decision I made…other companies bonus structure plus salary adjustments and yearly pension contribution plus healthier culture and state of mind all have more than made up for it. No more golden handcuffs…things of the past. EM clearly has demonstrated lack of loyalty and will suck every last drop of you and more…if you let it

Easily calculated?

No, the formula is not easy, it's a mess.

Go to the "retire in 5" yammer group and you are going to find lengthy discussions about the formula to calculate your pension.

Nevertheless I agree with OP, the pension is way less valuable as management wants you to believe, definitely not worth tolerating the toxic culture and abuses from management.

At 30 years service my LS payout was roughly 10x my annual salary

Easily calculated?

No, the formula is bot easy, it's a mess.

Go to the "retire in 5" yammer group and you are going to find attempts to find the algorithm to calculate your pension, there are like 7 different formulas postulated over time.

Nevertheless I agree with OP, the pension is way less valuable as management wants you to believe, definitely bot worth tolerating the toxic culture and misserable raises.

Seems to be some confusion of basic math in some of the posts. EM pension is a defined benefit clearly described and easily calculated as a function of years of service and maximum pay.

For higher CL folks who have 30 - 35 year careers, the lump sums I heard (when interest rates are at all time lows) were in the 5 - 8 times annual salary range. Dropped recently by rising interest rates.

Several millions????

You are being delusional.

Only if you are a hi-po and get to CL28-29 and stay more than 20 years.

The most common scenario for the average technical employee, is CL27 and 15 years. For this scenario it will be a 6 figure number, approx 3 times your annual salary.

These are all great points. Assuming I can mentally survive the culture, and I don’t get fired or PIPd before 55, do you think I should stay for the pension?

If I make it to 60 or late 50s, it’s an extra several million

I moved on to an employer that contributes 9% into my 401k and does yearly bonuses. I feel like I have more control and flexibility over my savings now.

At 15 years, the pension payout is ~82% of my annual salary.

Equivalent to a 7% cash bonus every year invested in the stock market at 7%.

It’s not nothing but it’s not much, ball and chain that psychologically traps you more than anything.

Supplemental defined contribution may be better even if it's higher risk. Most US companies have switched to this.

Pension is 10% of your salary contribution towards your pension fund. If you find a job outside with atleast 10% salary bump and invest on your own you may come out ahead. This is an old tactic and the only perceived benefit or a bone XOM can now throw to to attract new dogs.

Completely agree and in hindsight I would have chosen to not get the pension or go with a different version of it. The pension is a false sense if security and if you put it in your portfolio as part of your retirement plan, then your future is somewhat in the companies control. As we can see with 3M even what we think of as solid companies can change. If I did not have the pension I might have changed jobs and considered different opportunities. Hindsight is 20/20, so we adjust and move on. It will be in my top 5 “what would I do differently “ if anyone ever asks.

Yep.

This assumes you make it to 55.

But if you don't, then you only get approximately half of that (there's a jump in pension at age 55).

Thus, the most likely scenario is that you will find yourself fired at age 50 with one year of severance.

Furthermore, you will find yourself unemployable at that age after having your career controlled by careless and incompetent supervisors over more than a decade.

Yep, I discovered that too. Pensions is nice but not a great. Not worth hanging around if you have better opportunities.

Some of the old pension plans offered by various companies some 20 to 30 years ago were great, but the mentality back then was we hire life long employees. That is no longer the case. Companies will dump you in a heartbeat.

This is what I have determined as well. The pension only makes sense under the old vision of hire to retire.

Now that we are hiring to fire, I’d rather take a higher salary with higher risk and stash my own money in an investment account rather than depend on Darren’s good graces.