With interest rates close to an all time low, is this a good time to cash out your Pension ? (if you have not already done so)
13 replies (most recent on top)
Sweet!!!!!!! Not lookin' too shabby at $104/shr + divs. Hope it holds up.
My company provided financial advisor advised me to cash out and spend it all on Chevron stock. I have done so and am anxiously waiting for the results.
@1zrx, as a Chevron retiree, if you still have your ESIP 401k at Vanguard, you can now take advantage of a new service they recently started. It's a managed investment account that charges only a fraction of the management fees that discount brokers charge. It might be a good fit for you. I think this program extends to Vanguard IRA accounts too. Check and see.
1hca, gxa here. Not the investment guy ... just a satisfied retiree who spent a little too much time driving myself and my spouse crazy, worrying about when to cash out. Although I was lucky about the lump sum being a little more than I expected, it did take me some time to find my investment advisor. At first, I wondered if I had done the right thing because some of my CVX friends went with the big firms. Now, a couple of years later, some (not all) of those friend have left the big firms because of the fees and are trying to mind their investments by themselves and at least one of them is doing great. I just don't have the background or confidence to try my hand at it and I don't want to be that tied down.
GXA you sound like you are the investment guy...
While it's a fact that the lower the interest rate, the higher the lump sum, you can't drive yourself too crazy you have no control on the exact day CVX pays out. So, you just have to ballpark that and watch the trend in the rate. I was pleased because my payout was about $10k more than I planned on due to the couple of weeks CVX took to process the payout. The real plus for me was getting a good financial advisor to handle my lump sum. I am very pleased how my advisor has grown the amount, which is way more than I would have realized by just letting it sit with CVX. I did not go with one of those big firms as their fees were exorbitant. I shopped around and found someone I trust and negotiated the fee.
@1obm, grow up, get a wife, then come back here to ask that question again.
-yge - thanks for that clarification
@ozn - You stated "The lower the rates go, higher your pension value." That's only true for the lump sum payout, not the annuity. When rates go up, the annuity amount goes up and lump sum goes down.
We are waiting an watching for probably the next 6 months. It has been going up... 21,000 since I requested my retirement package... we are not cashing in now...
Wife comment is more true than most people realize. Especially the part of being your fault for getting the axe. It is funny, but not funny at the same time.
The lower the rates go, higher your pension value
The way global economics is going, we may have lower rates in th US. Just wait until our Fed employs negative interest rates like in Japan and Germany.