Should I consider leaving a job for another one with a better pension....?

[EconDiva]

I am clueless on how to insert a table into a post :(

Anyways, I ran the below pension numbers a few days ago.  For some reason lately I have been regretting not taking a job with a pension earlier on in my life.  I think perhaps it is because one of my friends plans to retire at 43 with 20 years in at the Fed Reserve...and I have another friend who is 38 with 11 years in management with UPS who told me the other day he'd be getting 4500/month in pension payouts as a result of his 11 years in.

It's got me looking at my company's pension and wondering...is this a good pension?  Should I consider staying here as long as I can for it?  Should I consider leaving for a job that pays a better pension?  I'm single, female, 38, no kids.  3 years in at my current company...will be fully vested in 2 years.  I know I shouldn't be comparing myself to others but my current private pension seems kinda small although I know it's worth what....a few hundred grand if I stay another 10 years...and withdraw from it for a few decades in retirement?

Anyways, I know I shouldn't completely rely on 'any' pension being there when I retire.  And I shouldn't take a job SOLELY for a pension (I didn't even know my current job had a pension before I took it).  But wouldn't it be smart to choose a job that has a really good one at this point in my life?

When I talked to my friend about...the one who's at UPS...he said my focus should be to make as money as I can, spend as little as I can...and to not think about a pension AT ALL.  (Actually he stated I need to be investing in high cash value whole life insurance plans right now but that's literally in another thread.)  I figured it's easy for him to say to forget about the pension as he has one, but his whole point was to focus on putting my money in different income producing assets right now.

So anyways...what are your thoughts based on the scenarios below (I also tried to attach the table)?  Would you consider staying at my current position 'because' of the possibility of the pension?  And would you consider doing what I'm considering....leaving primarily to work for a company with a much better pension?  The point I'm trying to make here is that the allure of a pension has got me considering taking a pay cut and working for a totally different industry solely for the purpose of one.  Is this a crazy thought? 

My company is 129 years old and this is a private pension but I understand that doesn't mean it'll be around come my retirement time. 

Very briefly let me summarize some of the pros/cons of my current job since there's a lot more to this story to consider:
-Currently make $90K+7% bonus
-Not many people in my current position are over 50/55 (stress level and time commitment for my job is VERY very high...I recently was working 13-15 hour days for a recent deadline)
-Just moved home to another state which is nice (they allowed me to go full time remote so I work from home)
-I'm not interested in moving up position-wise here due to additional stress and not sure how that will play out yet
-Generally I am content with my job but just dislike the frequent evening work/calls and high stress which isn't conducive to me having much of a life outside of work

Below are the numbers I ran...just random scenarios to show the pension playouts at different ages of me leaving the company versus age of collecting the payout.


Age on Last Day of Employment   / Age I begin receiving pension benefits / Years between quitting day and receiving benefits / Pension Benefit
40   65   25   $383
40   50   10   $167
45   65   20   $875
47   65   18   $1,062
49   55   6   $539
50   60   10   $860
50   62   12   $1,020
52   62   10   $1,157
60   65   5   $2,201

[KungfuRabbit]

"Back in the day" people didn't need savings really. A good pension and SS is plenty of cash flow.

Some of those people are happily retired. Some pensions went belly up and they are getting a small fraction of what they expected.

I'm also at a 100+ year old company. About 15 years ago they modified their pension formula for new employees (which in part of). About 10 years ago they stopped pension all together for new employees, instead offering more 401k matching. About 5 years ago they started offering and pushing a cash payout when you retire instead of an annuity. im guessing within a 5 years they'll start some sort of pension annuity phase out (forcing the buyout) for people retiring. They'll also probably stop the pension for current employees, roll over the payout into an IRA, and transfer them to the new plan (more 401k matching, no matching).

Long story short - pensions suck for companies. Their math relied on people dying within 5 years of retirement. Paying a pension for a 30 year retirement screws the company. What's worse is survivor benefits and age gaps. Dude marries younger lady, retires, dies, younger lady collects pension for 60 years. There are lots of big companies slowly phasing them out.

That's IF the company doesn't go belly up and you are left with whatever scraps you can get from their fund.

So needless to say I wouldn't make massive life decisions on a pension alone.

Also, your spreadsheet is very incomplete. If the new job has a better pension but worse pay, how does that balance out?  What other benefit differences are there?  (401k matching being the most obvious).

Honestly though, if you are working 15 hour days in a high stress job, you have a new job with comparable compensation but doesn't have 15 hour days...it's a non question in my mind.   

[mm1970]

I don't know what to tell you.  I don't have a pension, some of my friends do.  It's a bit late for me.

I can say that my city and county pension costs are skyrocketing, causing our local councils to have to cut services in order to keep paying for the pensions.

The retirees say "hey, the city made a promise!"  The taxpayers say "hey, not only did I pay your salary, but now you are asking us to lose services and keep funding underfunded pensions."

Anyway, I wouldn't rely on a pension.

[Dicey]

"Actually he stated I need to be investing in high cash value whole life insurance plans..."

Run, Lola, Run. Sorry, old movie title.

RUN, EconDiva, RUN!

[EconDiva]

"Actually he stated I need to be investing in high cash value whole life insurance plans..."

Run, Lola, Run. Sorry, old movie title.

RUN, EconDiva, RUN!

I have another thread about this but not many responses yet with reasoning as to why this isn't a good idea.

[EconDiva]

Also, your spreadsheet is very incomplete. If the new job has a better pension but worse pay, how does that balance out?  What other benefit differences are there?  (401k matching being the most obvious).

Honestly though, if you are working 15 hour days in a high stress job, you have a new job with comparable compensation but doesn't have 15 hour days...it's a non question in my mind.

Good point.  I think my focus lately though has been so much on...considering looking for another job with a better pension that I kinda assumed it would also 'have' to be a job that doesn't 'ever' include evening/night conferences I have to hold or 15 hour days during deadline time no matter how infrequent deadelines are.