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To: D.B. Cooper who wrote (12819)	4/5/2004 5:21:48 PM
From: im a survivor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13815

<<On this information I would take it to a very good finacial planner. I would like to see the plan being administered by someone else besides you wifes company after she retires. there are usually all different types of payments that you can choose. One being that she would get less but more would go to you on her death . Or she would get the full max and you would get none. I think you should get professional help. Don't get any advice from some idiots out here in web space>> Yep, am aware of the different payment options she can choose...as far as Michelin managing it.....who cares....They privatly fund it if necessary if their investements aren't doing the job, so regardless of who manages or mismanages the money, she gets a guaranteed rate based on a set formula that is based on her final salary upon retirement or death, years of service times a matching % from the company that is set in stone...the only numbers we dont know is what her final salary will be at...all other numbers are guaranteed, so I could care less who manages it as it wont effect her numbers......The new plan, puts the onus on us....we get x % of salary plus years, every year and it is up to us to invest...if we invest well, we come out great..if we don't, we blow her pension...the new plan allows for a lump sum payment, whereas the current plan is a monthly annuity, that frankly, she would have to live a very long time after retirement until those monthly payments add up to what her actual benefit is.......I guess the key factor is over the next 10 - 25 years can I average 8.5% yearly via mostly mutual funds, both agressive and conservative..If so, it is a no brainer....8.5% yearly gets us more money then her current plan, and we can get it as one lump sum payment...if the market really moves high in 20 or so years, it is even that much more money...the flip side is if the market bombs then we would have been better with the guaranteed, current plan and just take the monthly payments....The key is, I would prefer to get a lump sum, versus a monthly payment that will take a long time to get all your money, but the current guaranteed plan is not set up like that...joint survivor..10 year guaranteed and etc....choices, but no lump sum payment.....What I would hate is to stick with current plan and see market go higher and then 20 years from now see that I could have a lump sum of a million or 2 bucks or more had we gone with the new plan, but instead am stuck with a monthly payment that is decent, but nothing to get too excited about......And unfortunatly, this is a one time decision that cannot be changed and it must be made by thursday midnight, so I really dont have time to sit down and let a financial planner look it all over...and no, I will not just run out and take the advice of some idiot that responds to me that I dont know, but I sure would love to hear opinions...I certainly can read bewteen the lines and see who knows what they are talking about and who doesn't, and regardless, they are just opinions...more food for thought..maybe something I havent already thought of.........5 years ago this would be a no brainer..I would have looked at my wifes age ( 33) and figured we have a long time and 8.5% a year will be easy, plus we get a lump sum payout instead of the bull$hit monthly payment...but now, the world looks entirely different and I dont like what I see out there, so am not as sure that everything is going to be hunky dory over the coming years...again, the whole key is her age...33 and can we AVERAGE 8.5% a year over the next 20 or so years.....if we get 5 years of down and 15 years of up, fine by me, as long as we get at least 8.5% a year......