Township Pension

spontaneous said:

And what of employees who pass away a few years after retiring who don't leave defendants. Sure, some retirees collect for decades, some don't.

An interesting and perhaps apt slip of the keyboard given the direction this discussion has taken. Database does permit someone to determine if current pension is being paid to original recipient (employee) or original recipient's family member. Family member need not be a spouse. Could be a minor child at time of original recipient's death. The site indicates that approximately 9.2% of pensions listed are being paid to family members of the original recipient.

Stupid auto correct. Yes, I meant to write dependent.

spontaneous said:

And what of employees who pass away a few years after retiring who don't leave defendants. Sure, some retirees collect for decades, some don't.

I am sure you mean decedents. It's not automatic that a decedent will benefit from your pension after you die. You have to specify that when you retire. As far as I know you can only specify one person. I do know of a few people that did not live to collect their pensions and did not leave beneficiaries.

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We should all be fighting to make our government pension (social security ) to be better and at least as good as most government pension plans. Everyone who works should be entitled to a pension plan and I am not talking about a 401k which is a tax advantaged account.

Whatever is good enough for congress should be good enough for everyone.

marylago said:

spontaneous said:

And what of employees who pass away a few years after retiring who don't leave defendants. Sure, some retirees collect for decades, some don't.

I am sure you mean decedents. It's not automatic that a decedent will benefit from your pension after you die. You have to specify that when you retire. As far as I know you can only specify one person. I do know of a few people that did not live to collect their pensions and did not leave beneficiaries.

If you specify a minor child as beneficiary and then you die, does the child get the pension payments just until they turn 18? I can't imagine they would get it for the rest of their life like a spouse would, would they?

I don't have any dependents, and I often wonder if I should cash out my pension when I turn 65.

I think that some will allow for you to name a contingent beneficiary (who is not a spouse), but the benefit will likely be reduced based upon that person's life expectancy.

Steve said:

I think that some will allow for you to name a contingent beneficiary (who is not a spouse), but the benefit will likely be reduced based upon that person's life expectancy.

^^^ This, assuming a younger family member is named as beneficiary.

In NYS and NYC public pension plans, designating a beneficiary (regardless of beneficiary's age) who will receive your pension checks when you die will result in you receiving a lower pension check each month than you would have received had no beneficiary been named.

I find it odd that one could name a beneficiary that is, say, 20 yrs old. and they would received that pension until death.

krugle said:

I find it odd that one could name a beneficiary that is, say, 20 yrs old. and they would received that pension until death.

I don't believe you can randomly assign any 20 year old (other than your spouse) as a beneficiary, even either your children. You can assign a different beneficiary than your spouse but I believe there has to be some sort of extenuating circumstances involved. Say an adult child who is still a dependent for legitimate reasons, perhaps the adult child has physical or mental disabilities that keep them dependent on the parents' income.

The extenuating circumstance is that the pension checks would be much lower than otherwise based on the combined age expectancy of the retiree and the beneficiary.

Some may find this interesting : http://savejersey.com/2014/02/the-history-behind-trentons-pension-death-spiral/

Also, FYI, Maplewood Township employees do not receive retirement health or medical benefits.

joan_crystal said:

The extenuating circumstance is that the pension checks would be much lower than otherwise based on the combined age expectancy of the retiree and the beneficiary.

Edited: I didn't realize that a state employee could name someone other than their spouse or significant other as a beneficiary. Though I can understand having the pension go to a child might help pay for college costs, etc, listing a child as a beneficiary and having them receive a payment for life does actually seem wrong.

Red_Barchetta said:

LOST said:

The oldest person on the list was born in 1950 which makes him 66.

What is the purpose of this thread. Retired Police Officers, Fire Fighters and other Township employees are part of the State Pension system, which is part of the terms of their employment.

Maybe you were only looking at the first page. I think the list has like 278 people listed, many of them collecting for 30+ years.

You are correct. There are a number of people in there 90s and a few are over 100. I wonder if the list is up to date.

spontaneous said:

joan_crystal said:

The extenuating circumstance is that the pension checks would be much lower than otherwise based on the combined age expectancy of the retiree alland the beneficiary.

Edited: I didn't realize that a state employee could name someone other than their spouse or significant other as a beneficiary. Though I can understand having the pension go to a child might help pay for college costs, etc, listing a child as a beneficiary and having them receive a payment for life does actually seem wrong.

It appears to me that there is another side to the coin.

A person retires after 30-40 years of paying into the Pension and dies shortly afterward leaving no beneficiary. Or the beneficiary does soon after. Doesn't all the money the deceased employee paid into the Pension get used for Pensions for other people?

http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/pensions/epbam/exhibits/pdf/eb214.pdf

DESIGNATION OF BENEFICIARY

PENSION BENEFIT

This designation is for any and all pension benefits remaining at the time of your death.

Active Members
For Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS) and Teachers’ Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) members, the pension benefit is the return of member contributions paid in a lump sum to the designated beneficiary.

For Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS), State Police Retirement System (SPRS), and Judicial Retirement System (JRS) members, the pension benefit is a monthly pension determined by the governing statutes of those funds regarding surviving spouses, civil union partners, eligible domestic partners, minor children, and dependent parents.

• Maximum Option - The beneficiary designated will be entitled to the pension allowance due for the month in which you pass away.
• Option 1 Benefit - The balance of the reserve established at retirement, if any, will be paid to this beneficiary.
• Option A, B, C, D, 2, 3, or 4 Benefit - The beneficiary named as the recipient of a monthly pension at retirement cannot be changed. However, should your beneficiary predecease you, a new beneficiary can be designated to receive ONLY the pension allowance due for the month in which you pass away.