Another factor when making this decision is if your heirs will be able to inherit/receive your pension benefits should you unexpectedly die before you start collecting them. Heirs will likely receive greatly reduced pension benefits after an untimely early death. Also stock market returns are likely to exceed the expected actuarial rate of return set by the pension - thereby making the lump sum invested in the stock market more attractive than retaining the pension. In our case the projected pension rate of return was set by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation based on a historical US corporate bond rate. While the historical US corporate bond rate the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation employs was VERY generous given the current interest rate environment, it was well below historical stock market returns.
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Pricing thinly traded bonds can be...challenging. No guarantee the bond pricing which the broker is quoting will be fair
Post: A Taste for Junk
Link to comment from December 21, 2022
Another factor when making this decision is if your heirs will be able to inherit/receive your pension benefits should you unexpectedly die before you start collecting them. Heirs will likely receive greatly reduced pension benefits after an untimely early death. Also stock market returns are likely to exceed the expected actuarial rate of return set by the pension - thereby making the lump sum invested in the stock market more attractive than retaining the pension. In our case the projected pension rate of return was set by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation based on a historical US corporate bond rate. While the historical US corporate bond rate the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation employs was VERY generous given the current interest rate environment, it was well below historical stock market returns.
Post: Lump It or Leave It?
Link to comment from January 1, 2022