Pension Max

PLAN FOR YOUR FUTURE NOW

We all know how important it is becoming to look out for ourselves when it comes to our well-being. Not just now, but in the future. We have the responsibility when we are younger to raise our children and give them the best we can and then again in later years when we plan for our retirement. As things change and we become more responsible for our own retirement, it is important to plan ahead.

In most cases, when you retire, you must choose to take your full pension or the spouse survivor option. This means that in order to make sure your spouse has an income each month if something were to happen to you, you must take a reduction of your pension to provide that. This is usually 15% to 20%. In other words, if you were to get $3,000.00 a month before taxes, you would instead receive $2,550 which is $450.00 less in order to provide this benefit to your spouse. This $2,550.00 would then also be taxed. That would be the amount you would receive each month. Now, if something happens to you, your spouse would only receive 50% of that each month. That would be $1,275.00 before taxes.

If you choose to take your full pension, your spouse will usually only receive it for a time period. Such as 5 years after the date of retirement. So if something were to happen to you 3 years after you retire, your spouse would receive your full pension for 2 years only After that, your spouse would receive nothing. The time periods may be different for everyone, but that is something you need to know beforehand.

To add insult to injury, when you leave your job, you usually also loose your life insurance benefit or it is reduced to one-fifth of the amount you had all of those years while you were working. This does not leave much for your spouse and family unless you have thought ahead and got additional life insurance. You must be careful though that it is not a term policy which will run out during the time you need it most.

At Union Benefit Services we firmly believe that these are the things working men and women need to be educated about. It is too easy to think that your employer will take care of you, or our union, and it will be enough for you to live on after you retire.

For this reason we work with about 15 companies or more to be able to find the right program for each individual. No matter what your health or financial position is we will try to help you with what you need to fit your retirement plan. Of course, the younger you are when you begin, the better because you pay less premium and your health is probably better.

The two most popular programs are the Universal Life Insurance and the 30 yr. Return of Premium Term Life Plan. This can even be broke down to a lump sum payment and then 20 - 25 years of monthly income and then a death benefit.

Please feel free to call or e-mail us for more information.

Debbie Litton
678-469-8107 Cell
770-320-8008 Office
e-mail: litton_debbie@bellsouth.net