I was let go in 2018 after 20+ years. I keep up with some former co-workers, most who were let go but had under 10 years in. They told me they had received letters about taking a lump sum in their pension and all of them had done it. I did not get one so I managed to contact the pension plan and was told I was not eligible - no explanation. I am hoping the criteria is that due to the amount of years the payout would be more than they are willing to do
3 replies (most recent on top)
I’m in a similar boat. I left due to Bose Ride with 15 years service. Not really counting on my pension surviving. Fortunately, i saved in my 401k until it hurt.
The pension buyout offered to x employees a year ago was only if you had less than $100k in the buyout. If you had more than $100k you were ineligible.
interesting that off shore "employees" are supposedly not offered the pension, according to a different commenting person. I could see if they are not actual bose employees, like many of the companies bose contracts with. Maybe the pension policy was only for us employees.
The funding of the pension is supposed to be calculated to survive long term. According to Cindy Walter, and her HR benefits team that used to give pension education classes
Bose has been working toward phasing out the pension for some years now. Eventually, new employees will no longer be offered a pension. And Bose has been offering various lump-sum options, which cost the pension fund more in the short term, but eliminate some future liabilities.
The financial statements from the pension fund are published annually. The fund may be adequate to service existing pensions, but it's not a long-term plan for the company. Long-term loyalty to long-term employees is a thing of the past. When jobs are off-shored, the new off-shore employees are generally excluded from the pension plan.