Left Pfizer after 15yrs & increase my Pension 100%

Best topic on this site.
7yrs ago, I left at 45 & 23yrs & had to self educate & talk to external Pension lawyers & advisers as Pfizer does not education employees on the pension or even what retirement medical really does & does not do.
Glad I did, because my Pension funds that I rolled to an IRA (w the pentalty) is 3x more than what it would have been if I stayed with Pfizer until 65.
Best financial career decision ever
(I actually to a lateral to BMS 7yrs ago but tripled my net worth w pension funds by doing so)
A FROZEN PENSION is the worse thing any employee can have with retirement.

 

Did you get a lump sum of your retirement ! I Left Pfizer after 15 years And have a pension but have been told there is no lump sum option ??

 

Yes i am legacy Pfizer and we have lump sum offer. This is how you rollover the pension lump sum to a pension ira to invest in the mkts.

Legacy Pfizer, Upjohn, Wyeth, Pharmacia all have Lump Sum option (always take lump sum so you can pass to kids and heirs).
I believe Legacy Park Davis, Searle, and few other companies Pfe acquired to NOT offer Lump Sum & make you take monthly annuity.

 

Best topic on the board & very true comments.

A FROZEN Pension is the worse a person can have as it is not being contributed to nor is it even in a money market account earning interest. Frozen is Frozen.
If you legacy Pfizer company offers a Lump Sum on the pension, find another job & take the lump sum w rule 90 penalty to roll into a managed IRA with growth stocks. You will be 7 figures ahead when you retire.

I left Pfizer for Genentech 6yrs ago at 48.
I am in mgt and my Pension if stayed 16 more yrs w Pfizer to retire would been 1.7 million (if interest rates stayed same low rate in 16yrs)
I left at 48 & after rule90 penalty my lump sum was 1 million.
The past 6 yrs my rollover Pension IRA has grown to 1.8mil---- higher than what would been if stayed w Pfe until 65.
I am only 54 now so 9 more yrs to let it grow or retire now at 54 w same $$$ would have at 65 w Pfizer. (In 11yrs at 65 the pension ira will easily be $3.6million or almost $2mil more than staying w Pfizer to 65)

When i left at 48, i put my pension money into 45% S&P fund,
30% High Growth Fund,
10% Dividend Fund and
15% into 3x leveraged nasdaq ETF-- for tech stock growth

 

Echo same comments, I was younger and had 450k lump sum that in 7 yrs is now 1.25 million.
YOU ARE MISSING THE BOAT W A FROZEN PENSION IF YOU ARE WAITING UNTIL 50s or 60s FOR RULE OF 90.
Find another job equal or greater pay and get control of your pension to start GROWING!
Rule 90 gets you nothing you can not make up or more so in a few yrs in a balanced mutual fund. The Retirement Medical is a total joke & borderline FRAUD that Pfizer is using as a shell for taxes.
DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH ON THE FROZEN PENSION & RETIREE MEDICAL. YOU WILL BE BLOWN AWAY BY WHAT YOU LEARN.

 

Please explain what we should understand about retiree medical

 

Decades long lifetime medical & Rx was replaced few yrs ago w Retirement Medical Subsidy.
It is approx 200k that Pfizer owns & controls, you never see the money or have.
It can ONLY be used for monthly insurance premiums not deductables, co pay or out of pocket expenses. Strictly to offset premiums
.
This is the slick IRS TAX Shell game Pfizer is playing with this hundreds of millions on the co balance sheet.
You can ONLY use this act on Pfizer insurance, not any other insurance regardless how cheap it is.
Pfizer says their insurance cost for a couple is 3500 month & they supposely paying down the prem with your Medical act so your out of pocket monthly cost is 1200 month!
?????? Right!
You can call BCBS UHC Cigna or a small co on the street & get the same insurance for 1200 month...... not 3500 that Pfizer say its costing before they use your funds to pay down to 1200.
I called BCBS the exact plan I will have with Pfizer upon retirement, and cost for 2 was 1250 month if i bought it on the street.. so where is the 2500 month Pfizer supposely is taking from our act to pay down prem??
Bottom line this is a creative financial vehicle for Pfizer to keep tax free money.

Finally Pfizer prem goes up each year until age 65 then it stops & you must go on Med D.


There you have Pfizer s smoke & mirror of Retirement Medical.

 

Made 33% on my IRA Pension so far.
Far more than the 15% rule90 penalty i took. And i have 15yrs more to work.
Will have 3x more money in my Pension leaving than if I had stayed w Pfizer & retired at 62

 

Are you saying that the rep does not have an option of using the retiree medical benefit for supplemental medical insurance?

 

No they do not. So if you planned to use your spouces insurance & use your Retirement Medical on an external supplemental---no go with those funds.
It can only be used on Pfizer insurance, no external or supplemental.
The entire plan is a scam. You can get the same insurance off the street from bcbs uhc cigna for same amt that your out of pocket will cost w Pfizer.
The ONLY employee this plan is beneficial for is if you have a pre existing condition or medically uninsurable then Pfizer plan is your only option.

 

What about family medical ? Still have dependents

 

Have 3.75 mil to 4.1 mil depending on the date. Would like to get a job with another company but can’t due to family circumstances. Waffling on ability to just retire. 58 yrs old. Thoughts

 

That is such an important decision. You are best served by a professional financial advisor.

 

It seems like 4 mil give or take is plenty. Take it and invest. Who needs all these headaches?

 

What is your risk aversion to Covid? Cuz it’s not going away. If you have your health and that much for your retirement, go enjoy your life.

 

Unless you live in CA Hawaii NY/NJ or support adult kids then 3mil is plenty to retire let alone 4mil.
At 58 take retirement (at 55 you already have that so call scam of a Retiree Medical account locked) . Take retirement, lock in your Pension with rollover to IRA so it is your asset & under your control.
3mil easily will generate 200k a year.
4mil 250k a yr without ever eroding Principle.

After 6 months & you are bored then get another job-- by that time in 2021 companies will be hiring again. Or start your own business of some kind.
You earned it & deserve it.

 

If you have dependents that is covered with Pfizer plan like it is as an employee. Your good

 

I was let go last year with the LOE of lyrica. I had until this past February to make a decision to leave my pension with pfizer or take the lump sum. This was a very stressful decision. I decided to take the lump sum $387;000. I rolled it over at the end of March in a IRA. Just looked and it is 432,000 today.

 

Bingo! You made right decision. Every financial expert on Wall Street will tell you to take the lump sum if you are responsible & not a vegas gambler. In 90 days you have made 12% . It would be Frozen if left w Pfizer.
Also on lump sum when u & spouse pass it is yours to pass to heirs. If annuity, Pfizer keeps it after death.