Pension/401K. Actions needed you may not know

3/22'er here. Just a courtesy heads up for anyone that may have need. Sorry if it's overkill.

I am a former MCI'er and had a sizable pension amount that got frozen when Worldcom came along but has continued to earn interest. Nothing happens with this until you take action. I called Verizon Benefits a few weeks ago and they sent me a pile of paperwork to fill out. There are several options for its distribution depending on your age etc.. SSAO (Social Security Adjustment Option), Annuity payment, lump sum distribution etc... I finally received notice today that disposition as I requested had been approved and would be processed on 5/1.

401K. While they did not have it last week, today Fidelity did show me as "Former Verizon" which meant I could now take distribution action with my 401K. This can be done with a phone call that took all of 10min. You can leave it with them, or have it rolled over to various options. I am moving it all to my IRA. The nice surprise was that there was about 40K in POST tax dollars and they said they could just cut me a check for that which since it's already been taxed would tax free to use as I desired. Car shopping this afternoon I think! :-)

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I believe there's a lot more options in steering the direction of your investment choices in a Fidelity IRA than in a 401k.

Is there a contact number for Verizon regarding the 401K for a former MCI Worldcom employee?

YphDNPC forget the car and roll the $40K into a Roth IRA.

Greetings, I submitted my request on Benefits Connection in January to take my (former GTE) pension as a lump sum, to be rolled over to the Verizon 401k at Fidelity (VSP on March 22). The paperwork to complete the request "Verizon ROL" was found via "Message Center" link at the top of the Benefits Connection website (I was expecting something to be mailed to my home for me to sign and return). I called the Benefits Center retirement number, and they gave me a street address for me to send the signed paperwork via FedEx (as the form only has a PO Box number). I missed the deadline to have the lump sum paid on April 1, so it is due to be paid (rolled over to 401k) on May 1.

I also found a link (on Benefits Connection - Library) to a form "Application for Pension Rollover to the Verizon Savings Plan" which needs to be mailed or sent via FedEx to Fidelity, letting them know what to do with the lump sum pension amount which will be rolled into the 401k (25% into fund "A", 25% into fund "B", etc.). Once the lump sum retirement is rolled into the 401k at Fidelity, it will be simple to roll over that total amount into an IRA of my choosing. I was told that the Fidelity 401k will remain open so that any profit sharing from working 3 months in 2019 can be deposited in 2020.

By far the best option for the MCI pension is to take it as an annuity. You'd be hard pressed to find another option that would, 100% guaranteed, pay you as much. Outside annuities for the lump sum amount pay far less. Putting it into the markets is anything but secure.

As far as the 401k it doesn’t matter if you’re a former or current employee. Your can roll it over to another place anytime you want.

I rolled the MCI pension into the Verizon 401K. That also allows you not to pay tax at this time, if you don't need the money now. And yes it was a pile of paper work.

Did not know about the action required on the old MCI Pension. THANKS!!!

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Pension/401K. Actions needed you may not know

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