The COVID-19 pandemic may have you concerned about your personal financial situation, especially your retirement funds.
Now there's specific concern about the future of pensions, with coronavirus dealing a major blow to the stock market. Some private companies are selling their pension plans to insurance companies, which can be risky, because they don't always have the same government-backed protections in place.
Elijah Kovar from Great Waters Financial says if you have a pension, there are few things you should do:
- If your pension is transferred to an insurance company, make sure you know about and have documents for your current benefit information, in case there are any immediate disputes over payout amounts.
- Look into the financial stability of the new insurance company. Each company is required to file an annual report, and it should be posted on their website.
- Keep in mind that it’s rare for insurance companies in this market to become insolvent. And if it does happen, there are still protections in place to help recoup some or all of your pension.
Kovar also recommends, no matter what type of retirement fund a person has, doing two things:
- Take inventory of your savings and see if your retirement plans need to be re-evaluated.
- Work with an expert financial professional to put a plan in place for these difficult economic times.