But no one here is going to be able to give you a satisfactory answer. The cash and/or commuted value of a pension taken as a lump sum will be calculated according to the rules of that particular pension, and based on factors specific to you (years of service, age at retirement, number of years to NRA, etc.)
Exactly , and as I've said many times , I have the annual personal benefit booklet and all the info anyone would need including age , years of service etc etc . So , whether I'm sitting in someones office with this booklet in my hand , (as I did last year in my FA's office) , or I'm sitting here at home providing that info to someone who is interested , the result should be roughly the same (and roughly is going to be more than good enough to solve this mystery) .
So far, you've tried to estimate your cash/commuted value based on an investment return approach; and based on pricing annuities in the open market. But none of these approaches are appropriate. The estimates you've fooled around with can provide you with interesting benchmarks, and they should help you in making your decision about whether to leave your money in the plan or not, but they don't account for the value upon termination.
Right , but as I've said many times , there is a $164,000 discrepancy here between what my FA said the ballpark Commuted Value should be , and what it turned out to be .
Simple question "why?" .
The other thing: for what it's worth, I work in this industry (not as an FA, but with pensions and retirement income analytics), which gives me good background knowledge.
However, I am typically responding to posts here while doing things like waiting for software to update, or (on Sunday night) for the jam I was making to reach the gel stage so I could can it and then go to bed.
The level of attention I can bring to this kind of a forum is decent, but my no means the attention I would bring to a work situation. In my view, no one should rely on advice from anonymous internet fora in making pension decisions or other decisions that are both significant and irreversible. (Just in case that isn't obvious, I thought I would state it for my own comfort.)
Well , first of all , I very much appreciate any and all help and information I can get . Secondly , as I've said many times , I will eventually get another FA or hire someone , but first , before I do I want to get my ducks in a row , before I go blindly into another advisor's office , with my pants down around my ankles and not even knowing it .
I certainly did not at any time ask for someone to tell me what I should do , or ask someone to give me advice on what I should do , yet I am getting the same advice over and over ("go see a Pro") .
All I'm asking , is for someone to take the numbers I already have (age ,years of service , monthly benefit amount etc etc etc , and crunch the numbers and see what they get for a commuted value amount . Then compare that to what my FA suggested it might be and to what my pension administrator estimated it actually is .
It's child's play . It may very well turn out that my FA was dyslexic and that the PA was 100% right . Or it may turn out that the FA was 100% right and the Pension Administrator simply made a mistake .
Either way they can't both be right and I want to try and figure out which one is right and which one is way out in left field .
Perhaps I should just start another thread and try this again from another angle . This thread has been informative but it doesn't look like the actual help I'm asking for is coming this way anytime soon .
Thanks again very much for your reply .
G J D Swain
PS : I should point out that I'm not going to provide the name of my FA or even what city he works in , or the name of my pension administrator or what company she works for . This information will not be disclosed at any time .
Also , what kind of jam are you making ? Home made bread too ? I remember the good old days when my mother and aunts would go out and pick wild strawberries and blueberries and apples and make the most delicious jams and home made breads , on a wood-fired stove ! (yes , I'm that old )