Protecting Your Pension For Dummies

are You Concerned About Your Pension? In Today’s Tumultuous Business Environment, You Have Every Right To Be. With Revised Pension Laws And Under-the-table Pension Cuts By Companies Making Waves, You Have To Be Ever Vigilant About Protecting What You Have. protecting Your Pension for Dummies Helps You Do Just That. This Easy-to-follow Guide Explains All The Latest Pension Laws, What Your Rights Are, And The Best Ways To Keep Your Money Safe. It Demystifies The Various Types Of Pension Plans And Outlines Just What It Takes To Qualify For A Pension. Once Your Plan Is Set Up, You’ll See How To Navigate Company Bankruptcies, Mergers, And Pension Cutbacks, As Well As Divorces, Loans, And Personal Bankruptcy—and Take Action If You’ve Been Shortchanged To Recoup What Is Rightfully Yours. You Get All The Expert Guidance You Need To: understand The Pension Protection Act Of 2006 evaluate Different Pension Plans plan For Retirement While You’re Working ensure That You Get Your Pension request Essential Plan Documents understand Eligibility, Accrual, And Vesting guard Your Pension From Your Employer—and From Life’s Ups And Downs understand Pension Distributions and Much More Complete With A Glossary Of Terms And An Appendix Of Charts And Forms Discussed Throughout The Book, protecting Your Pension for Dummies Is The Fun And Easy Way® To Grasp All The Important Pension Rules—and Retire With A Full Nest Egg! Protecting Your Pension for DUMmIES 1 About the Authors 3 Dedication 5 Authors’ Acknowledgments 5 Contents at a Glance 7 Table of Contents 9 Introduction 19 About This Book 19 Conventions Used in This Book 20 What You’re Not to Read 21 Foolish Assumptions 21 How This Book Is Organized 21 Icons Used in This Book 23 Where to Go from Here 24 Part I: Focusing on Pension Fundamentals 25 Chapter 1: Navigating the Ins and Outs of Pensions 27 Checking Out Pension Rules 28 Getting a Grip on Tax-Qualified Plans 28 Moving Forward with 401(k) Plans 30 Funding Your Retirement with the Help of IRAs 30 Tracking Pension Investments 31 Ensuring That You Get Your Pension 32 Keeping Your Pension Safe from Your Employer 34 Safeguarding Your Pension from Life’s Trials 37 Taking Action When Necessary 40 Chapter 2: Acquainting Yourself with Pension Rules 43 Before You Begin: Basic Information for Understanding ERISA 44 Gotta Do It: ERISA’s Requirements for Pension Plans 48 Chapter 3: Exploring the World of Tax-Qualified Plans 57 You Get What You Give: Defined Contribution Plans 57 Benefits from the Boss: Defined Benefit Plans 64 Something Special: Other Retirement Plans 70 Chapter 4: Using 401(k) Plans to Your Advantage 73 Understanding the Benefits of 401(k) Plans 74 Looking at the Traditional 401(k) Plan 75 Checking Out Other Varieties of 401(k) Plans 82 Chapter 5: Increasing Your Income with IRAs 87 The Fundamentals of Traditional IRAs 88 The Nuts ’n’ Bolts of Roth IRAs 95 The Simplicity of the SIMPLE IRA 99 The Skinny on the Simplified Employee Pension Plan ( SEP) 100 Chapter 6: Monitoring the Investments in Your Pension 103 Staying Alert When Others Decide Your Pension’s Investments 104 It’s Up to You: Choosing Your Own Pension Investments 115 Part II: Making Sure That You Receive the Pension You Earned 121 Chapter 7: Getting the Scoop on Eligibility, Accrual, and Vesting 123 Eligibility: Officially Entering a Plan 123 Accrual: The Pension Is Almost Yours 128 Vesting: The Pension Is Yours, and No One Can Take It! 130 Chapter 8: Planning for Retirement While You’re Still Working 135 Tallying the Cost of Your Retirement 136 Gathering the Goods on Your Pension Plan 140 Painting a Complete Picture of Your Retirement Income 147 Chapter 9: Understanding the Rules of Pension Distributions 151 Knowing When You Can Take Your Distribution 151 Surveying Your Options for Distribution Payments 162 Getting a Grip on Rollovers 165 Claiming Your Benefits 167 Part III: Guarding Your Pension from Your Employer 169 Chapter 10: Zeroing In on Fiduciaries 171 Defining Who Is (and Isn’t) a Fiduciary under ERISA 172 Surveying the Duties and Restrictions of a Fiduciary 174 Knowing Who Pays for What: Fiduciaries and Lavish Spending 178 Keeping an Eye on Your Plan’s Fiduciaries 180 Chapter 11: Dealing with Your Employer’s Corporate and Financial Changes 183 Keeping an Eye on Your Plan When Your Employer Combines with Another 184 Considering Your Options When You End Your Relationship with Your Employer 187 Protecting Your Pension if Your Employer Goes Bankrupt 190 Chapter 12: Handling Plan Modifications and Terminations 193 The Particulars of Plan Amendments 194 The Standards of Standard Plan Terminations 198 The Details of Distress and Involuntary Terminations 202 Part IV: Shielding Your Pension from Life’s Ups and Downs 205 Chapter 13: Hitting Yourself Up for a Loan 207 Surveying the Pros and Cons of Borrowing from Your Pension Plan 208 Walking through the Loan Process 210 Understanding Loan Termination and Plan Disqualification 217 Chapter 14: Surveying Survivorship Benefits 219 Understanding the Basics of Survivorship Benefits 220 Spelling Out the ABCs of Specific Survivor Annuities 224 “Waiving” Goodbye to Survivorship Benefits 228 Looking at the Impact of Life’s Unpleasantries on Survivorship Benefits 231 Chapter 15: Dividing Your Pension between You and Your Ex 233 Checking Out the Basics of a Qualified Domestic Relations Order 234 Qualifying a Domestic Relations Order 237 Handling Taxes on Qualified Domestic Relations Orders 241 Protecting Your Rights If You’re the Ex 242 Chapter 16: Protecting Your Retirement Funds from Creditors and Bankruptcy 247 Inside or Outside? Looking at Levels of Creditor Protection 247 Finding Protection Outside of Bankruptcy 248 Understanding Protection Inside of Bankruptcy 250 Planning for Protection from Creditors 251 Part V: Taking Action When Bad Things Happen to Good Pensioners 253 Chapter 17: Looking Out for Potential Distribution Problems 255 Checking Out Common Mistakes in Calculating Pension Distributions 256 Recognizing Red Flags That Signal Trouble Ahead 260 Reviewing Your Pension Distribution for Mistakes 262 Getting Guidance from the Right Places 264 Chapter 18: Tackling Denied Claims 269 Oh, No! Discovering That Your Claim for Benefits Has Been Denied 269 Undergoing an Appeal after Your Claim Is Denied 271 Chapter 19: Hiring and Working with an Attorney 275 Searching for the Best Attorney for Your Needs 275 Interviewing a Prospective Attorney 281 Crunching Your Pension Plan Numbers after You Hire an Attorney 291 Keeping an Eye on Your Relationship with Your Attorney 292 Chapter 20: Dissecting a Pension Lawsuit 295 Examining ERISA’s Rules for Pension Lawsuits 296 Before You Begin: Preparing to File a Complaint 298 Get Ready to Rumble: Filing a Complaint 301 Understanding the Plan’s Response to the Complaint 304 Getting the Goods: The Discovery Process 305 In It to Win It: Stating Your Case to the Court 308 Take the Money and Run: Getting Paid after Winning Your Lawsuit 311 Part VI: The Part of Tens 315 Chapter 21: Ten Key Pension Issues for People Still Working 317 Be Familiar with Special Requirements for Participating in Your Plan 317 Keep Your Pension Documents Safe and Accessible 318 Fill Out Those Pesky Beneficiary Designation Forms 318 Take Advantage of Any and All Investment Advice Available to You 319 If Your Plan Invests in Employer Stock, Determine Whether You Can Diversify 319 Know Whether You Can Check Plan Benefits or Change Investments Online 320 Get the Help of a Financial Advisor 320 Know How Much You’re Really Saving for Retirement 321 Max Out Matching Contributions in Your 401( k) 321 Confirm That the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Insures Your Plan 322 Chapter 22: Ten Key Pension Issues for People Getting Ready to Retire 323 Make Sure the Facts on Which Your Pension Is Based Are Correct 323 Verify That the Plan Is Using the Proper Formula to Calculate Your Benefits 324 Be Sure the Plan Had the Right to Reduce Your Benefits ( If They’ve Been Reduced) 324 Select Your Own Investments If Your Plan Gives You the Opportunity 325 Know What Fees You’re Paying 326 Choose Carefully between a Lump Sum and an Annuity 326 Take Advantage of Rollovers 327 Have a Plan for Drawing Down Your Lump Sum Payout 328 Look Before You Leap and Take Early Retirement 329 Find Out How Returning to Work after Retirement Affects Your Pension 329 Chapter 23: Ten Key Pension Tips for Small Business Owners 331 Be Certain You Can Afford a Retirement Plan for Yourself and Your Employees 332 Think about a SIMPLE IRA If You Have Fewer Than 100 Employees 332 Consider a 401(k) Plan to Attract and Retain Good Employees 333 Add a Profit-Sharing Plan to a 401(k) for Extra Benefits 334 Consider Defined Benefit Plans for More Sizeable Contributions 335 Weigh the Pros and Cons of Fixed versus Flexible Contributions 335 Encourage Your Employees to Contribute 336 Carefully Select a Third-Party Administrator 336 Examine All Investment Options 337 Uncover Hidden Fees 338 Part VII: Appendixes 339 Appendix A: Glossary 341 Appendix B: Tables and Charts 351 Index 363 The current investment/economic enviornment could profoundly change many retirement benefits. This book takes complicated information and presents it in a very readable format that is sprinkled with humor. Pensions is one area where a person can not afford to be a dummy - this book will take you out of the dummy status - it is an excellent source of information.