Your parents' pension; your pension

[JBL]

My partner and I both have pension plans, he is municipal and I am state. Mine is not that great unless I stay with the state for a VERY long time. If I retire around age 70 I should get a pretty solid pension, about 80% of average of my three top earning years, with annual cost of living adjustment. The formula is incredibly complicated, incuding numerous variables, and I have no idea what my top earnings are likely to be when I am in my 60's. I am 29 now and 2 years in. The benefit drops steeply as you retire earlier. The old timers are in a much more generous plan. Most of my young colleages went for the 403b plan which the state matches generously. I think that employee contributes 5% of their earnings and the state matches with 7%. Not bad. My father had a chance to get into the state pension plan at the beginning of his career and opted out because he did not think he would stay very long. Well, turns out he worked there for 18 years, and would now have incredible pension with 100% health/dental for life if he had opted in. I also like that the state of Connecticut is on the hook for part of my retirement, so I dont need to shoulder all the risk of investing for my retirement. Here's hoping that I live long enough to enjoy it!

My parents do not have pensions, but a lot of my elderly neighbors do and I can appreciate the added peace of mind that guaranteed income stream gives them.

[Daylily]

My dad has a pension and is drawing on it now. My mom only worked intermitently, so no pension. Between the pension and drawing social security for both of them, I think they are at about 90-100% of pre-retirement income. At this point, he has not started withdrawing from his IRAs or thrift savings plan.

I had a pension at my last employer. I was able to convert it to a cash balance pension and roll it into an IRA when I left (or I should say, when the company went under).

My current employer offers a pension. I only need to be there five years and I will be vested.

[markusk]

Parents were self-employed, so no pension.

I have a pension that will replace about 50% of income. This is not adjusted for inflation. Like Sweeps, I also have a cash balance account in which deposts are made into an investment account which I control. I recently learned that our retirement plans are affectionately called "golden handcuffs."