Received a letter today, April 16, 2018, that contained the following information about Sears Holdings Pension Plan 1.
"On April 2, 2018, the Plan's actuaries certified the Plan's funded status to be above 80%. Because the funded status has exceeded 80%, the benefit restrictions, which have been in effect since April 1, 2016, were lifted effective April 2, 2018."
Plan 2 recipients were shifted over to Met Life last year.
The first group had a maximum monthly earned benefit of $150, while the second group had a maximum monthly benefit of $265. You should have gotten a letter if you were affected by the change .
Those folks are now paid from an annuity fully paid up through Met Life. No more Sears .
The remaining approx 100,000 Sears pensioners earning a benefit of more than $265 a month are still tied to the original Plan, Plan 1 . When you multiply an average of, say, $400 a month, times the amount of folks that could be drawing on the pension , the liability is huge.
@1zdp I've never heard of a pension having any control of what else you do with your time, paid or unpaid. Pretty sure they just don't want you double-dipping with a Sears employee paycheck at the same time you're getting your Sears pension checks.
Confused about something in the letter. Can anyone clarify? If we retire from Sears, it says we cannot seek reemployment. Does that mean working elsewhere in the Sears organization or working somewhere else (not Sears) entirely?
That would be Pension Plan 1. What about Plan 2? And how would we know what plan we are in?
@fgl, you must live in Charleston, SC like me or work at #2855. That store is standing in the way of redevelopment of the mall it is in.
I do not know why they do not close that store?
What were the benefit restrictions?
Fake news
It means if you are pension eligible take the money and run.
So does this mean they can sell the 138 ring stores? (Have any already been sold?)
Store 2855 is standing in the way of some fairly significant redevelopment. I suspect they know this and are holding out for more money.