316 | Is Your Pension Healthy? | Grumpus Maximus

<div class= "elementor-element elementor-element-15da9379 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-content" data-id="15da9379" data-element_type="widget" data-widget_type= "theme-post-content.default"> <div class="elementor-widget-container"> <ul> <li>Back in another installment of ChooseFI’s Households of FI series are Troy and Lindsay.</li> <li>In episode 241, Brad helped them calculate their FI number, but Lindsay is a teacher with the potential to earn a pension. In this episode, they touch base with Grumpus Maximus to discuss the health of their pension.</li> <li>While the conversation is geared toward the health of the Virginia Retirement system, others who are eligible for pensions will learn where to access data about their own pensions and interpret it to assess its health.</li> <li>Linsday is 32 and in her seventh year of teaching under the Virginia Retirement System. Troy is 34 and an IT professional working on government contracts and does not have access to a pension. Troy and Linsday have a young son.</li> <li>Grumpus Maximus is a retired military officer who lives in New Zealand with his wife and two kids. Grumpus experienced a post-traumatic breakdown around year 16 of his military career that had him calculating whether or not it was worth staying in the military for the additional years required to earn his pension.</li> <li>Many defined benefit plans these days have different levels because they are so expensive. The Virginia Retirement System (VRS) has 3 options, 1, 2, and a hybrid plan. Linsday is on option 2.</li> <li>Both COVID and having their son have had Troy and Lindsay thinking about the future of their careers. The possibility of working from home or retiring early were things they began to consider, but the VRS’s calculators would allow Lindsay to play with numbers to look at retirement before the age of 58.</li> <li>After some investigation, Grumpus found that 30 years is the standard full vestment period, but partial vesting is reached at just five years, although it wouldn’t p