I was speaking with a friend of mine about my company's pension as one day we were having a conversation about maximizing income. I was asking him his thoughts on say, if was offered a raise to go work for another company if I should consider leaving to take it, or if the prospect of getting a pension at my current company is a big enough deal to forgo opportunities for a bigger raise from other companies. I believe I could make more money pursuing another position(s) somewhere else but am overall content with my current employer and position.
I know many do not consider their pension in their retirement income calculations-I do not either. However, my argument to my friend went something like this:
Let's say I stay with my current employer for 10 years. Estimated monthly pension payout amount is $1,000. Because my friend has worked at UPS in upper management and has been there over a decade, my pension would obviously pale in comparison to his. So he heard this and was like "No way you should pass up on any offers for a bigger salary somewhere else because (a) you might not get that pension and (b) the amount is not all that high." While I agree with the "you might not get it" side of the argument, I think it's easier for him to say because he's already got a large one coming to him.
Anwho, I was thinking about the situation this way: If I stay here 10 years and get $1,000 a month in a pension, using a SWR of 4% isn't that free $1k/month ($12,000 a year) equivalent to having $300,000 in the bank? Am I calculating that right? In other words, say I decided to take a different job at a higher income and no pension. The salary would have to be high enough for me to then save an additional 300k by retirement time on my own to generate the same amount in retirement income the pension at my current job would be giving me. Right?
So basically, while his stance was "From a maximizing your retirement income perspective, you should consider as many other higher salary offers you can at other places." But my stance was moreso "From a maximizing my retirement income perspective, my company's pension could be more valuable than any other salary offer I'm likely to get from any other employer."
What are your thoughts? Again, I don't include the pension numbers in my retirement calculations. Right now I'm just in a place where I am evaluating my budget and income. I'm always trying to find ways to lower costs but I am also looking at ways to increase my income again. I'm not necessarily "married" to my job but I'm not averse to leaving for more money either. Of course there are many other factors to consider but when it comes to leaving my biggest consideration is forgoing a potential pension and I am just curious if others wouldn't even consider the pension and would just "chase the dollar" as my friend suggested.