I believe Sears pension plan 1 is fully funded until the end of Feb 2019 by law according to a letter I received back in March or April of this year. If they file for BK then assuming that if one is eligible you are still able to get a lump sum distribution if one retires before Feb 2019. The only question I have is who becomes the administrator of the plan, PBGC or Sears pension dept, and when this transition occurs. I filed for retirement a couple months ago but Sears pension dept said I have to wait until my severance package & health insurance stops which sounds like it could occur next week (was supposed to end in Nov). I checked healthcare.gov for health insurance and the premiums for me were even higher than what COBRA would be, we'll have to see how it all plays out. I know BK has been predicted for Sears on and off for the last 3 or 4 years but now that we are on the doorstep and even though we all knew it was coming, it's still a bit of a shock if and when it happens... like watching a very sick family member hang on until the end but when they actually pass away it's still a little hard to take.
Somebody posted this on another thread. I just bumped it to the top in case someone has the similar situation.