Would You Take Security Later for Relief Now?
Ah, what a dilemma I face. It’s a classic example of having to chose between security in the future versus the needs of the present.
From 1993 until 2010, I worked for the same big national corporation. There were a few years in that 17 that I went and did other things, but for most of my adult working life, I was loyal to one employer. For the first half of that career, while I worked for that company, I earned a benefit that is unheard of nowadays, a pension.
The corporation discontinued the pension benefit back in 2003, but that didn’t do anything to what I had already earned.
These days, companies contribute to 401K’s for your retirement, but back in the closing days of the 20th Century, I was still earning a promise for some money when I retired. Eventhough this company unfairly terminated me a couple years back, it’s kind of been a comfort to me knowing that once I turned 65 years old, this big company would be sending me $275/mo for however long I lived after that.
This week, I got a tempting offer from that big corporation. I can cash out my pension for $10,000 cash right now.
When you look at the pure numbers, this is a stupid offer. $275/mo equals $3300 per year. $10K equals three years of payments I’ll receive 23 years from now. I hope to live older than the age of 68. If I look at this long term, $10K at 42 (which actually ends up being $7K because it will get taxed at 30% by the gov’t) versus $275/mo at 65 is a no brainer. I should hold off for the pension. It could mean the difference between being able to feed myself and abject poverty in my golden years.
But…
Oh, man, I could SO use that money right now. I’m kinda stuck. My monthly expenses exceed my fixed monthly income. Every month, I live on the edge of being broke all the time. The cable & internet gets shut off all the time. I have to take out payday loans or pawn my personal belonging in order to buy groceries. I get by, but have no opportunity to get ahead. I didn’t plan this; my income got cut by my employer by 35% back in February, and although I could go find a new job, that is an entirely different discussion. As I said, I worked for the same company for almost 20 years; I’m not the job-hopper type.
So, first of all, the money could give me a little cushion where I wouldn’t have to take out short term loans at 400% APR to make ends meet.
Here’s what else I might do:
- I could move. I do not like where I live. I moved in here after being evicted from my former home in an act of desperation. One thing this place has given me will be an appreciation for any other place I will ever live as I could not imagine anyplace could be any more confined or tiny than this coffin-like basement apartment where I currently dwell at $600/mo. It’s a good thing I have no social life because I cannot have anyone over. There is no place for anyone to sit in my home other than this seat from which I am writing. I suppose they could sit on my bed, but they’d have to be really good friends to do that. Moving is expensive. Security deposit. Moving truck. A grand or two easily to move.
-
* I could relocate. I’ve lived here in Seattle for five years, but other than my “stuckness”, I have no real attachments to this city. Yeah, I love the Northwest, but there are things to love in every part of this world. I’m thinking I could move back to San Diego where I have family and friends, having lived there from 1988 to 1995. I’m going down to San Diego this week. I’ll be visiting the San Diego locations of my current employer, introducing myself to the senior management down there, setting myself up for a possible request for transfer.
-
* I could change careers & countries. One thing I’ve always been told is that I would be a good teacher. People also told me I would be a good lawyer, and that career path didn’t work out for me, so what I’ve been told doesn’t hold that much weight for me nowadays. Now, I make as much as an appliance salesman as does the average teacher, but what I could do is go for something that would make me even LESS money, but in a place where living costs peanuts. I could become a teacher of English as a second language in a foreign country. I’ve lived overseas before, I would very much love to do so again! Indonesian, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, China..umm… Mongolia… I could totally see myself hopping from country to country on assignments teaching English. Thing is though, to get a real job, one needs a certificate to teach ESL. Not that many schools offer that certificate and it costs about $1500.
-
* I could blow it all on hookers, gambling and frivolous jaunts here in the USA.
SO… If I live to be 80 years old (which isn’t all that likely considering how I am overweight, smoke and have bad living habits), my Sears pension will be worth $49,500 over those 15 years..that’s in 2035 to 2050 dollars.. Or take $10K today and be able to do some of the things listed above.
What would you do?
Sometimes a bird in hand is not worth two in the bush. You will need that $275 a month check to pay for your Medicare part D supplemental insurance. Go to the Social Security Administration website https://secure.ssa.gov/RIL/SiView.do
and have them calculate your various benefits (Disibility now, age 62 amount, 66 and a half and age 70(full) monthly benefits. You will need that $275, I promise you.
Go to San Diego. A new start, fresh outlook, new job can be a good thing. If you can sell appliances, you can sell anything. Learn about boats— big commissions there. Use your degree. Go to truck driving school to get your CDL and be a local route driver where your hours are 40 a week and you are home every day. Fed ex will be putting on the seasonal drivers soon. That is a great place to get experience to go with your new CDL so you can put it on your resume for local transport companies.
Lots of opportunities out there. Go get ’em!