Hey everyone,
I am a part-time loader in Kalispell, MT and have been with UPS just shy of 4yrs. I fortunately have a great paying full-time job and would really like to quit UPS but my dad (who has been driving for UPS for 24yrs) insists I stay on at least until I am vested after 5yrs to draw from the pension plan.
My question is - how can I figure out what my monthly draw will be after 5yrs of employment? I'm not sure if it will be worth it.
Are you covered by the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan? If so, visit their website . . .
https://web.archive.org/web/20130127205742/http://www.wctpension.org/
See how many years of Vesting you already have, (probably four), and how many more months you need to make five. If you only need 500 hours in 2011, you won't have to work the entire year.
Your monthly pension will probably be payable when you reach Normal Retirement Age, which is usually age 65. Your monthly check will be the sum of the five monthly accrual rates for the five years you worked.
Your modest benefit amount will be calculated at the end of 2011, but the value (purchasing power) of your dollar amount will be ravaged by Inflation between now and age 65. As you live into your seventies and eighties and beyond, your small, fixed monthly benefit amount will buy even less and less.
If you're close to achieving Vested Status, you should try to keep working until you get Vested.
It may be that vacation, sick days, option days, etc. count as hours worked, so you may be closer to 5-Year Vesting than you think.