Thread regarding IBM layoffs

@pg Your FHA dollars can only be spent within Optum financial. That change limits your options substantially. Couple that with UHC upping their premiums 83% for the 2026 plan year (enhanced option), and your FHA is eroding away quite quickly

I was in the original Pension plan, left IBM and came back 15 years later and was allowed into the modified plan. at the time I was not happy. However, the extra 2% I received for my 401K for many years has paid off nicely. When I left IBM I rolled my 401K over into a much better plan with more options, adding to more gains. What’s funny is I did not realize IBM funded the FHA. I finally looked at it last year and was surprised to learn how much was in there. The inflation during 2020 through 2024 drove this account to 6.5ish percent compounded monthly. When I get older, I’ll use this account to pay for quite a few years of Medicare gap coverage. I also have an IBM pension, which I started receiving monthly at age 65, even though I still work. In summary, for me the modified plan has paid off nicely. Pension, FHA, and 401K. I also had quite a bit of stock. I got lucky with this, as I sold years ago at a peak and reinvested. So overall, my comp at IBM has worked out.

I was never in the old (true) pension but I was on the defined plan (whatever it’s called) and the crazy thing is that the money is basically sitting there earning nothing while my 401k has been doubling every 3 ish years. I feel badly for anyone who has a lot of money in that.

I remember buying into the Cash Plan BS back in the early 2000s. I was one of the younger employees who had already realized a decade earlier that if I didn't plan and save for my own retirement, no one else would. IBM threw an extra 2%/year into my retirement plan and set me up with that $25K Future Health Account(FHA). I was so stupid and happy to get it with my retirement still 30+ years away. I realize now that the FHA grew at the new and not improved pension growth rates based on the T-Bill rate ( 1.5% for most years until 2020). So today, 9 to 19 years after they put the money in ($2.5k/yr for 10yrs), it's only worth $36k - what a horrible return! But that $36k will still cover 3 years of medical premiums (at current rates) when I retire early @ 60. And that pathetic 80k lump sum pension that's in my acct will cover the rest of the way. It's not nothing, but it ain't what it could/should have been.

I can see now - 30 years later - how I was taken advantage of compared to what I was offered when I started at IBM.