10 Pension Tips to Help You Get Your Maximum Benefits

When you’re getting towards your retirement, money always is a concern. You need to make sure that you get all the benefits which you’re entitled to.  In many cases, people start their retirement without realizing that they’re owed benefits that they may have forgotten about along the way.

Here are five great tips that can help you to find the benefits you may be missing and to get the benefits you know you deserve.

Companies That Disappeared

You’re still entitled to your retirement pension, in most cases, if a company you worked for folded.  This is usually passed along to the company that bought out the original company you worked for.  The US Pension Guaranty Corporation may also have taken charge of it.

Unclaimed Pensions

It may be hard to remember the first few jobs you had, especially if you didn’t work at them for long.  In many cases, however, these jobs come with a pension and you should make sure you check into it with all your old employers.  If the employer is gone, see the tip above!

Don’t Throw Away Records

You may have records that apply to work you did many years ago.  When you’re ready to start your retirement, you may find that there are records within this paperwork that will help you claim additional pension benefits.

Summary Plan Description

Remember to get this form from any of your old employers.  It will explain your retirement plan to you in detail and is vital in determining how much you can expect in benefits.

Some Things Last Forever

If you were vested in any company as far as retirement benefits go, you still are.  This never expires, so be sure you check to see if you were vested with any of your old employers.

Documentation

You can always ask your employer for a detailed description of the benefits you’re going to get and when you can expect them.  Keep this on hand in case anything happens to your employer before your retirement so you can establish what you were owed.

Check Their Math

Not only are you entitled to see how your benefits are calculated, you’re entitled to check those calculations for yourself.  If something seems wrong, make sure you bring it up to your employer. They may not have calculated anything incorrectly, but they may have had bad information when they started working the formula.

Make Some Noise

If you’re entitled to benefits and you’re not getting them, keep at it.  There’s no sense giving up and, if you keep all that documentation, you’ll have plenty of evidence so that you can make your case to whoever applies.

Get Help

There are plenty of retirement organizations out there that will help you out if you get in a tough spot with claiming your benefits.  Be sure to lean on them if you need to; it’s a good way to make sure you have someone knowledgeable working your case.

Your pension can make or break your retirement, so be sure you get everything you’re entitled to!