Stan446

Wow, wrong on so many items. If you die before retiring, your spouse gets nothing. 401K has no vesting. Do you have any clue on what our benefits are? A pension is guarenteed via the PBGC. Read for God's sake.

Survior benefit is picked when you RETIRE dimwit. You don't have a choice ever to pick the survivor benefit options on your pension until you retire. I'm shocked at your stupidity on the pension, 401K and survivor benefits.

Reese

Straight from the 'FedEx Surviving Family Guide'

If your spouse was an active pilot and had more than five years of credited service for vesting with the
Company on the date of death, you will be entitled to receive a portion of the pilot's benefit from the FedEx Corporation Employees’ Pension Plan and Non-Qualified Plans (if applicable) as early as the date that the pilot would have turned 55. If the pilot was 55 or older at the time death, the Retirement Service Center will send you a report of benefits (along with a retirement kit) within 60 days of receiving notification of your spouse’s death. If your spouse dies prior to age 55, you will be sent a retirement packet at the time your spouse would have turned age 55.

The benefit you receive is a monthly benefit based on your spouse’s credited service for benefit accrual and average earnings under the Plan on the date of death. Your benefit will be calculated as a 50% Joint and Survivor Annuity option that would have been available to the pilot. The surviving spouse will receive half of this amount. One exception is that, if a pilot applies for retirement and makes a valid unexpired election to commence retirement benefits but dies before the benefit commencement date, the spouse will receive the benefit the pilot elected. However, if the spouse defers receiving payments, the benefit the spouse receives reverts back to the equivalent of the Joint and Survivor Annuity. If you elect to receive this benefit prior to when the pilot would have attained age 60, there will be a reduction of 3% per year for each year (or .25% per month for each month) prior to when the pilot would have turned 60.

You may defer receiving payments until the pilot would have attained age 60. You can accomplish this in practice by just not returning the election forms. The Retirement Service Center will then send a follow up letter about 90 days before the pilot would have reached age 60. You may also elect to defer distribution up to December 31st of the calendar year your spouse would have attained age 72.

NOTE: You may request that your pension payment begin at any time after your spouse’s 55th birthday.
However, for any commencement before age 60, there will be an early retirement benefit reduction of .0025 for each month that the benefit commences prior to the first of the month following your spouse’s 60th birthday.

If a pilot is not married at the time of death:
No benefits are payable to a beneficiary. However, while not entitled to survivor benefits from the FedEx
Corporation Employees’ Pension Plan, a beneficiary may be eligible to receive benefits under the FedEx life insurance plans, Pilots’ Retirement Savings Plan (PRSP) and/or Flying Tiger Variable Annuity Pension Plan for Pilots (VAPPP).

Anomjnom12

I don’t think you can read very well, but I also think most of us knew that already.

Moneybags

I’m not sure why I’m bothering with an obvious troll. I will be blocking you but my response will be to those who might actually believe what you’re saying.

According to the Pilot Benefit Book, a pilot is immediately vested in the PRSP, our 401k. This means the money is yours immediately. Unlike the pension that you have to wait at least 5 years.

You are correct that you select your survivor benefit options once you’re retiring. However, if you die BEFORE retirement, your spouse is eligible for 50% of your accrued pension. Again this is explained in the PBB.

Some of our pension is protected by the PBGC. But to say it is guaranteed is misleading, as that implies the full amount. As I’ve shown, at age 60, only $55,440 is guaranteed by the PBGC. That is far less than the $130k pension we have now.

A 401k is portable immediately, if you die before retirement (or after that matter), your family gets all the funds not something less like a pension. And if the company goes bankrupt with a distress termination of the pension, you still get all the funds in your 401k.

Idaho

Most have not attended a retirement seminar, and the rules are likely to change multiple times before you retire. It's clearly complex enough under our current system without adding in a third option, the cash balance plan. Lots of yes voters regaled me for hours on end about their income taxes and how this plan would help them. A few admitted that the young guys trying to buy houses and educate their kids are hosed and sucks to be them. But it's a flex for senior widebody captains. The MBCBP was complicated and there were some unknowns. We didn't have much time to analyze before the vote, but the more I learn the less I like TA 1. Wish I had a bead on what options are being considered by our negotiators and union leaders.

JustInFacts

Why do people keep insisting on making this a senior vs young thing?

My experience has been just the opposite. I have had many young, junior pilots explain to me just how good the MBCBP is and how we would be fools for not moving to that. As a senior WB captain, I can see the arguments on both sides. I am not a fan of the MBCBP, but the majority will rule.

One of the LEC’s put out a message a while ago stating that there was a plan on the table that they thought would be beneficial to both the company and us. It would be nice if this more open MEC would share some information on that to avoid more surprises.

Anthrax

You ain’t senior Justin H. and from what I hear, you’re barely a pilot.