repaying social security

I'd get the job first. Then look at what how much I'd be earning. If I were returning much of my SS, I'd withdraw the application and repay them my benefits so far. -- Doug

I believe the government pension guarantee covers up to 50k a year (I don't know if you already counted that).

Not to change your plans, but if it makes your day any brighter, it is people like you and your hubby that will pull this country and economy back out of the mess. I had a secure retirement, too, but zero interest rates and dividend cutting are putting a lot of retirees at risk. This massive sell-off in the market is becoming increasingly insane, as is the flight to T-Bills - perhaps that's a silver lining.

I guess you would have to know how long you will live to answer this question. Thumper

Here is the pension insurance table maximums. Its is based on the age you retire.

I have some relatives who retired from GM and been watching this too. The insurance punishes those who took early retirement, e.g. airline pilots who were forced to retire at age 60 until recently.

I find this interesting: "The Corporation reported a year-end deficit of $11.2 billion. PBGC's mean projection indicated a

combined $26.3 billion deficit in ten years, with a

26 percent chance of reaching full funding in

that period."

Yet they claim:

The agency receives no funds from general tax revenues. Operations are financed largely by insurance premiums paid by companies that sponsor pension plans and investment returns.

If they were $11.2 billion in the red I wonder where they got the money to meet their obligations. Somehow I think they are getting taxpayer dollars.

Some details of the pension plans of GM and their status is available here. There were negotiations with UAW and ammendments that make it a little difficult to sort out. As I read the balance sheet, their funded "Pensions" Liability increased from $11,381 billion at the end of 2007 to $25,178 billion at the end of 2008 (I'm assuming the $25 billion is the amount owed to the pensions at the end of the year). As I read the "Change in benefit obligations" (Note 16) the fair value of plan assets falls short of the obligations of $98,135 billion by $13,590. At the end of 2007 there was a surplus. The decline in funded assets appears relatively modest, given the extent of the financial market turmoil.

It strikes me as indicative of the relative size of assets and pension obligations, that GM's total revenue in 2008 was $147,732 billion, and their total assets $91,047 billion. If I'm reading this correctly, the company is more a defined benefit pension plan payor than an automobile manufacturer. In any case, I'm fairly certain the various fund(s) are segregated, so benefits are not entirely dependent on GM's survival.

I hadn't looked at their 10k previously, so the above is sketchy.

If you pull the report

00&context=key_workplace and jump right to page 2 of the report (the 5th PDF page), you find assets of $63B and liabilities of $74B, but benefits paid were 'only' about 4.3B, so the net negative includes future obligations. In 2008 their net actually improved from $14B red. It was a great year for them!

Joe

I think they have obligations that are $11.2b more than their assets. But so far the money coming in has been enough to pay the current payments that are due. But their obligations are only going to grow, and their income is only going to fall, because there are lots of underfunded defined benefit plans out there, but very few new plans being put into place, so the premiums collected aren't likely to rise.

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It's not based on the age you retire. It's based on your age when the bakruptcy occures. From the PBGC website:

"Your maximum guaranteed amount is based, in part, on your age on the plan termination date (or the date the sponsor entered bankruptcy, if applicable) or, if you were not in pay status on that date, the date you begin receiving benefits from PBGC."