WHEN IS PENSION MAXIMIZATION NOT RIGHT FOR YOU?

If Your Health is Poor

If you are in very poor health, you may not be right for pension maximization. The reason you may not be right for this strategy is that it is predicated on your ability to obtain a properly designed life insurance policy. If you are not able to obtain this life insurance policy for health reasons, you are left having to take a reduction in your pension to protect your loved ones.

A point of warning, however, regarding health: in our experience individuals tend to be much harder on themselves when it comes to their analysis of their health status. An experienced financial advisor can help you determine which pension option is right for you and should be committed to helping you make the best choice for you and your family regardless of which strategy is the best.

If You’re Single

The other scenario where pension max may not be appropriate is if you are a single person who does not have children and you have no one you would care to benefit from your pension should you pass earlier than expected. A litmus test for this situation can be answered with this question of yourself: if you died the day after retirement, would you care that no one benefited from all of the years of work you put in to earn your pension? Your pension is likely worth hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. If you truly wouldn’t care if anyone benefited from this should you die earlier than expected, then you are likely not a good candidate for pension maximization.

You Should Still Speak With an Expert

As identified throughout this website, pension maximization ultimately comes down to math. If you have received a full analysis of your pension and had an experienced Financial Advisor accurately do the math and the math doesn’t work, it is not right for you. If the math does work, you could save hundreds of thousands of dollars over your retirement while leaving a substantial legacy for your family.

Though pension maximization may not be the right strategy for you, having a NYS pension in and of itself gives you tremendous flexibility in your overall planning. Speaking with a Financial Advisor well versed regarding all of the NYS benefits often leads to opportunities you didn’t even know were available to you. As they say, knowledge is power, and the right knowledge can lead to many more dollars in your pocket, especially when it comes to navigating your NYS benefits.