Thread regarding CenturyLink layoffs

Just google can a bankruptcy judge take a pension

Okay, I did. Basically proves the other guys right. No pension has been touched in a company bankruptcy.

“21 years and your pension is only mid 5 figures? At 20 years my old qwest pension was over $200,000. Maybe different job titles but this doesnt smell right.”

Different job titles I’m sure - always have been in the sales sector.....

The company has billions in free cash flow. Its not going bankrupt. Quit stirring up stupid rumors that have no merit.

21 years and your pension is only mid 5 figures? At 20 years my old qwest pension was over $200,000. Maybe different job titles but this doesnt smell right.

I am in the trenches and we are lucky to have 10% workers in our cables. They don’t spend a penny to fix anything so I still ask about bankruptcy??? They still pay a healthy stock dividend and can’t do that on a loss. Bankruptcy can come quickly but the dividend cut will come first. If that happens there could be problems for sure

Separated from Lumen the first of the year - had a Qwest pension from back in the day that I thought might buy a Happy Meal once a month - was surprised it had grown to mid 5 figures. Took the lump sum distribution - monthly disbursement was offered - I had to laugh... Today I received my 401K check - rolling that over - nice mailbox money day. Have to agree with others that being away from that company is one of the best decisions I’ve made - walked away after 21 years and couldn’t be happier.

If you are in the trenches of this company and not isolated to a work from home bubble, you would realize that there doesn't need to be a "source" to identify the likelihood of bankruptcy. Once it is suggested by a credible source, it will be too late to prepare adequately. We are in a freefall and we have zero vision from leadership. Ride it out and capitalize on what comes. Someone is going to have to pick up the pieces because the government can't ignore failure and expect to maintain revenue from commerce and security for the nation. They need our services more than anyone. How will our pension be protected through all of this is not clear. The Government supposedly guarantees some percentage of our pension. I routinely hear 1/2 but don't know for sure. I am sure that our leadership appears to be determined to run this company into the ground. Maybe they want their golden parachute, maybe there are unseen incentives from a larger competitor to allow our company to fail and drive us in a direction of reversing divestiture, maybe they are feeding off of the current sheep like business culture which allows companies to hide the fact that they are teetering on failure for years while marketing the fake image they want to project with the dollars they should be spending on fixing their problems to ensure success. Only one option drives stock price in today's pretend economy and it's not the latter.

Where are the bankruptcy rumors from? I haven’t heard anything about this except this post?

If you take the lump sum and roll it over you can make more in the long run. The company does not invest well.

"My answer is, would you trust the people running this company with YOUR pension??? Not me."

Why they don't have control of it, Nacchio tried to grab it first thing and couldn't do it and b y contract the company must keep it funded.

One of the few things the Union did that has not been tinkered with, lots of former Union members that have voices and ears outside the company can make a problem if they try.

My answer is, would you trust the people running this company with YOUR pension??? Not me.

AA froze their plans (underfunded by well over 50%) not terminated them. Even if they had terminated the plans, PBGC insures $17B of the $18B in obligations.

https://www.pbgc.gov/wr/other/pg/american-airlines-amr-pensions

The rules for reducing pensions are on PBGC's website and depends on assets in the plan and maximum benefit amount under law (based on the participant's age). Quit posting garbage rumors and hearsay.

It was a lie huh. Just google can a bankruptcy judge take a pension smarty. How many examples do you need. Ok in most cases they cut it in half at least.

@1ssv+1byt2Hc7 that is, put simply, a lie.

1. No bankruptcy judge since the passage of ERISA has ever ordered that funds already in a pension plan be disbursed to non-employee creditors. And very likely, none have done so even before ERISA was passed in 1974.

2. The PBGC is a creditor (and a priority one, at that) in cases where the pension fund is underfunded.

The truth is no creditor (barring vested employees, of course) can claim any of the assets already in a pension fund, and pension funds are basically priority creditors, themselves, via the PBGC. This is 100% the opposite of what you said.

Ask American Airlines a bankruptcy judge is the only person that can take the entire pension fund and give it to creditors.The lump sum is a good idea.

Just take the lump sum and worry no more.

Look up the 2019 "CENTURYLINK, INC. DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN MASTER" Form 5500 at http://5500search.dol.gov/. Schedules R and SB gives us some details. Highlights:

• As of December 31, 2019, the plan is assumed to be 92.50% funded. That's way better than most public sector pensions (70% is the norm, some plans down to 40ish%), but as we will see it is not great...
• The assumption that it is 92.50% funded is based on a discount rate assumption. The discount rate assumption CenturyLink uses is 6.11%. That assumption is still better than most public sector pensions (which regularly assume 7, 7.5%), but still invalid in this interest rate regime -- particularly since the plurality of the pension funds are in bonds.
• The pension holds 23% of its funds in stocks. It isn't clear how much of that stock is in CenturyLink itself, in which case that portion of the pension fund goes to 0 in a bankruptcy scenario.

Worst that can happen if CenturyLink goes bankrupt? The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation will provide some coverage. Get acquainted with the maximum coverages: https://www.pbgc.gov/wr/benefits/guaranteed-benefits/maximum-guarantee -- note that things like health insurance aren't covered here

What else can befall you and your pension?

• CenturyLink selectively lays off the oldest parts of the workforce. Just ask McDonnell Douglas employees in Tulsa.
• CenturyLink freezes vesting. For example, if you are aged 56, your early retirement benefit rate is 66% of the rate you would have at age 65. CenturyLink could just say whatever rate you have now is the rate you will have when you retire

News such as CenturyLink going to full-DC for new hires can be mixed but CenturyLink can't completely abandon their pension funding obligations as long as they are solvent.