Pension Plans: Qualified vs Non-Qualified
#1
New Hire
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Aug 2015
Posts: 2
Pension Plans: Qualified vs Non-Qualified
We are a Qualified plan. Thats HUGE!! Pilot Benefit book page 274
" Among the protections provided by qualified plans is the requirement that contributions be held in a trust, SEPARATE and APART from the employers assets, and protected from the employer's or employee's creditors."
Simple and how I understand it.
No PBGC, No FedEx, No ALPA, No risk and still get my $130 until i die.
" Among the protections provided by qualified plans is the requirement that contributions be held in a trust, SEPARATE and APART from the employers assets, and protected from the employer's or employee's creditors."
Simple and how I understand it.
No PBGC, No FedEx, No ALPA, No risk and still get my $130 until i die.
#3
#4
New Hire
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Aug 2015
Posts: 2
Those airlines pensions were non-qualified plans. Funded primarily with company stock. Their stock tanked, the pension was under funded and broke. If Fedex goes "man down" our pension will be fully funded with no ties to the company.
$130 til I die.
$130 til I die.
#6
The best chance the salesmen have of making their legacy come to pass is giving us all an individual option to opt out and keep exactly what we have right now.
I have a plan and I'm confident it will work for me and my family. I'm not able to retire next year with it all wrapped up in a bow ready to pile on whatever gravy comes of this effort. Nor do I have a 20-30 year investment horizon to take advantage of whatever potential long term benefits this proposal MAY offer.
It doesn't seem possible that a 30 year WB captain, a 53 year-old WB FO who always planned to go at 60 and a 30-year old new hire can all be served equally by whatever comes of this. I don't begrudge anyone the opportunity to improve their situation but expecting others to sacrifice (or at least risk) what they already have to make that happen doesn't seem right.
#7
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Aug 2006
Position: leaning to the left
Posts: 4,184
Lots of alternative facts there.
A "qualified" plan does not mean it's a guaranteed plan.
The PBGC basically only covers "qualified" plans. Like all the bankrupt PAX carrier's plans. The non qualified portions of their plans were not covered by the PBGC. The non qualified portions were fought out in bankruptcy court with creditors and parent airline.
I'm not trying to compare risks of PAX vs Cargo carriers pensions. I'm just trying to shed a little truth about "qualified plans".
I'm thinking that "$130 til you die" is setting the bar pretty low. Even for the PBGC.
Last edited by Busboy; 11-13-2017 at 12:27 PM.
#8
Lots of alternative facts there.
A "qualified" plan does not mean it's a guaranteed plan.
The PBGC basically only covers "qualified" plans. Like all the bankrupt PAX carrier's plans. The non qualified portions of their plans were not covered by the PBGC. The non qualified portions were fought out in bankruptcy court with creditors and parent airline.
I'm not trying to compare risks of PAX vs Cargo carriers pensions. I'm just trying to shed a little truth about "qualified plans".
I'm thinking that "$130 til you die" is setting the bar pretty low. Even for the PBGC.
A "qualified" plan does not mean it's a guaranteed plan.
The PBGC basically only covers "qualified" plans. Like all the bankrupt PAX carrier's plans. The non qualified portions of their plans were not covered by the PBGC. The non qualified portions were fought out in bankruptcy court with creditors and parent airline.
I'm not trying to compare risks of PAX vs Cargo carriers pensions. I'm just trying to shed a little truth about "qualified plans".
I'm thinking that "$130 til you die" is setting the bar pretty low. Even for the PBGC.
Non-qualified plans do not have to be held in trusts and vary greatly with plan design. Participants find themselves in a long line of creditors when a company goes south and often get nothing. Participants in ERISA/PBGC covered plans have some significant protections, both in terms of the consideration provided in bankruptcy and the resultant financial outcomes based on the funded status of a given trust.
Pensions are still a promise to pay. Qualified pensions have some protections under ERISA and the PBGC, but nothing guarantees the level of benefits promised. The maximum benefit the PBGC offers employees of terminated plans in 2017 is $3,490.06 per month at Age 60 and $5,369.32 per month at Age 65. Maximum benefit levels are periodically increased based on a Social Security Index.
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