Getting ready for retirement on day one


The first day of a job and the day of retirement may seem like opposite ends of the career timeline. But they are closely tied. The "pension clock" starts on the hire date, which is used to calculate years of service. In addition, most employees become eligible to actively save for retirement on their first day with Boeing. The Voluntary Investment Plan, Boeing's largest savings plan, has no waiting period for new hires to participate, a generous company match, plus immediate vesting of the company match.

Fewer than 30 percent of workers in Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and the U.S. have actually calculated their retirement needs. Business Wire, 9/17/02

"Saving for retirement may not be a top priority in everyone's mind—especially for younger employees—but the company's pension, savings and even other benefits (such as life insurance) provide opportunities for saving for the future on 'day one' and throughout an employee's career with us," said Pam French, director of Global Employee Benefits. "Our total retirement income benefits, in addition to Social Security and personal savings, are designed to help our people plan for their future beyond Boeing."

Total retirement income can be thought of as a "formula" [see diagram below] of shared responsibility between the company and employees. Two elements (Social Security and Boeing pensions) have fixed designs for savings protection and growth, and are managed on employees' behalf, while employees have control over the amounts and types of investments that they want to make in the other two elements (Boeing Savings Plan and personal savings). Combined, these retirement benefits can support each individual's goal for income replacement after retirement.

Planning for a longer life

"Many people focus on the income they will need at a certain retirement age: 55, 62, or 65," said Julie Curtis, Boeing's chief actuary. "Often they don't consider that they could live another 20-40 years and will experience inflation and various expenses over a long time in their senior years. This results in underestimating the amount of money they will need to meet their income replacement goals to last another generation."

Modeling tools are available. Most employees can model their Savings plans on the Boeing Savings web site at http://boeing.csplans.com. Pension projections can be obtained by phone through the Boeing Pension Service Center at 1-800-356-7240 (hearing impaired 1- 800-356-7287; from non-U.S. locations 1-206-655-2121). A new online pension- modeling tool is available at http://boeing.benefitcenter.com for employees who do not have complex heritage pension combinations and who have been with Boeing for at least one year.

In addition, Boeing employees have access to a free financial consultation with a Certified Public Accountant, financial planner, budget specialist or licensed securities broker through the company's Employee Assistance Program. The financial counselors provide telephone-based consultation for issues including debt management, retirement planning, family budgeting, and other personal financial issues. Call toll free at 1-866-719-5788 and select Option 2.