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| Thursday, October 27, 2005 |
| Open Enrollment Period |
Ah - the Open Enrollment package arrived at my inbox today. Once again I need to make such mystical predictions as "How much over the counter medicine, co-payments, and prescription eyeglasses" will I purchase next year? Is this the year for Lasik surgery? Is it time to sell-off some of my company stock in the 401(k) and rebalance? To add to the confusion my company is switching from Mutual Funds to collective funds.
A collective fund is an unregistered investment portfolio that merges participant assets together to obtain economics of scale. Collective funds are not required to have a prospectus, and are not available for investment by the general public. Collective fund values are not published in the newspaper. Collective funds are regulated by the Comptroller of the Currency.
All of this information thrown on you at once. It seems that my company mailbox gathers dust for most of the year, then in late October - SLAM - all of these HR urgent documents appear.
Some of the more interesting information included in all the inter-office envelopes...
As of July 1, 2005, I've earned a monthly pension benefit of $85.00 payable at age 65 over my lifetime (that is if I ever become vested - just 3.5 more years to go!)
If I continue to work for my employer until March 1, 2036 (without a pay raise) I could get an estimated monthly benefit of $2,073 payable for life. (Just 30 years, 4 months, and 4 days to go!)
Now don't get me wrong. I am grateful my company even has a pension plan. It is just hard to think so far ahead. I see it as a bonus benefit. If I am still here and make the 5 year vest - great! If not, oh well. Hopefully I can at least make the 3 year vest for the 401(k) company match. All these benefits are great and are why I work for a large corporation. I just really hope that between personal investing, company benefits, and social security I will be self-sufficient and comfortable in my twilight years. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 7:51 AM *
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