[Search for users] [Overall Top Noters] [List of all Conferences] [Download this site]

Conference 7.286::digital

Title:	The Digital way of working

Moderator:	QUARK::LIONELON

Created:	Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5321
Total number of notes:	139771

4018.0. "Digital to give lump sum retirement money" by SUPER::GOODMAN () Tue Aug 01 1995 11:16

    The July 31st Wall Street Journal had front page article about
    Companies offering lump sum payments of retirement money.

    In the middle of the article Digital was mentioned.

    "About a third of big companies that offer the familiar,
    monthly-check-for-life pensions, such as Merck & Co. and Digital
    Equipment Corp., now give departing employees the option of taking
    their pension accumulations in a lump sum when they retire, change
    jobs or are laid off."

    When did Digital start doing this?  What about people who have already
    left, can they get their pension money now?

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
4018.1	ex	ODIXIE::RIPPCONDI		`Tue Aug 01 1995 12:37`	5
	I may be wrong, but I believe that it has always been an option if the balance in your retirement fund is below a certain amount. If that is correct then the statement is true.
4018.2	Isn't the amount something like $3500	DECWET::WOLFE		`Tue Aug 01 1995 12:39`	0
4018.3		MROA::CEMBROLA		`Tue Aug 01 1995 13:52`	8
	I believe that if you are under 55 years of age and your pension balance is below $3500 you can get a lump sum payout, similar to the policy on 401K's being taken out of Digitals plan if under a certain amount. For persons over 55 they can elect to taken their pension in a lump sum and roll it over any way they want or they can have the pension pay them a fixed amount on a monthly basis.
4018.4	More information on WSJ article	SUPER::GOODMAN		`Tue Aug 01 1995 14:33`	15
	The WSJ article said that Digital employees had an option whether they had retired or "left the company" of pulling their pension funds. ERISA has a requirement that has always mandated employees with less than $3500 to pull funds. Also retired employees of a certain age were allowed lump sum distributions. The WSJ article was referring to employees under retirement age that were laid-off or left digital that have a vested pension of more than $3500. The WSJ wording was not referring to the ERISA provision. The WSJ reference was also not referring to pulling 401Ks. We always had the option to do that. Either the WSJ wording was incorrect OR there is a new option for people who leave Digital that are vested and their balances are greater than $3500. For more information see July 31, 1995, Wall Street Journal, page 1, last column.
4018.5	SERPers got it	TPSYS::EKBERG	I&AP Services	`Wed Aug 02 1995 09:07`	3
	For people that SERP'd, they were allowed the option of lump sum. I know someone who took it and it has turned out quite well.