GRAND BLANC -- Rick York is happily retired, having left General Motors after 34 years in 2006. The former manufacturing supervisor has eased into the slower pace of things.
"It's just nice to know that every day's a Saturday morning,” York said.
He is one of 42,000 white-collar GM retirees offered a lump-sum pension buyout from the company. A decision, he says, he'd rather not make on his own.
York’s financial adviser, Rick Barnett, is crunching some numbers.
"This is the first time that I’ve known of anyone that's got to make their retirement decision twice,” said Barnett, president of Barnett Financial and Tax Group in Grand Blanc.
Barnett said the buyout offers a unique second chance for retirement planning, for which retirees should consider several factors including their age, life expectancy, living expenses and spending habits.
York said he will probably not take the buyout offer. It wouldn't be enough money for how long he expects to live, he said, so he would rather continue getting his monthly pension payments.
“Now that I’m on the receiving end of it, it was well worth the 34 years I spent in there."
Barnett said older retirees or ones who might want more tax flexibility might want to consider taking the buyout, and that GM's move could set precedence for other automakers to end their pension plans.
“Corporations are stepping completely out of the way of retirement planning for employees. It is now in the hands of the new generation coming up to plan their retirement on their own,” Barnett said.
GM retirees have until July 20 to make a decision. The buyout doesn’t impact union pensions.
