Gannett
eliminated more than 11,000 jobs since 2007 -- often through layoffs that forced employees to confront a major decision: How should I handle my pension plan and
401(k) money?
Many Gannettoids took their money with them, rolling it into an
Individual Retirement Account (IRA). This resulted in the transfer of many millions of dollars from one custodian to another.
I'm considering selling advertising directly to marketers, including financial services companies. To prepare for that, I'm now gathering information from readers who left GCI in recent years.
The question
Concerning your pension plan and 401(k) money, did you:
- Leave the money in Gannett's care
- Roll it into an IRA at a bank
- Roll it into an IRA at a stock brokerage like Charles Schwab
- Take an early distribution and pay any taxes and penalties
- Other (please specify)
Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
I took my pension benefit money as a lump-sum payout, and rolled it into an IRA in a stock brokerage firm. I did the same thing with my 401(k) savings.
ReplyDeleteRolled it into an IRA at a stock brokerage as soon as I possibly could
ReplyDeleteJim, I did exactly the same as you. I was very on edge until I received the checks and deposited them in my account as soon as they arrived.
ReplyDeleteTook lump sum that rolled it into an IRA account, immediately.
ReplyDeleteRolled the lump and the 401k to in IRA at a brokerage.
ReplyDeleteRolled into Roth IRA as soon as possible. Sever all ties.
ReplyDelete401K remains with Gannett though I should get it out of there before Debow needs another bonus. As for the pension I have rolled that into a new biz venture ... life is GOOD after Gannett
ReplyDeleteI rolled out of the Gannett plan immediately and rolled the money into my IRA. No way was I going to trust those f-ers to screw me over another way. Also took the cash-out option from the pension plan.
ReplyDeleteTook my $620,000 paid the penalty, packed my bags and moved to another city, started a new life Gannett and debt free. lol
ReplyDeleteTook 401(k), even though I was told the company would be "happy to take care of it for me," and my retirement payout and rolled both into an IRA at a brokerage.
ReplyDeleteUnless I'm mistaken, wasn't that a $62,000 penalty?
ReplyDeleteI took rolled over my pension into an IRA two months after I took a buyout in Sept. 2009. I rolled my 401k into the pension a month before Hewitt was replaced.
ReplyDeleteIt was a huge penalty and I just wanted to put it all behind me and move on. I figured, I would spend that much on therapy. lol
ReplyDeleteI rolled both my pension and my 401k into an IRA at Fidelity as soon as possible. I wanted to get my money away from Gannett and into a company where I had more investment options. It was a no-brainer.
ReplyDeleteI know shit-all about finance, but I was under the impression that the 401K money was insulated by law from any Gannett shenanigans.
ReplyDeletePension obligations are another story entirely.
You're correct on 401(k)s. Pensions only rarely blow up.
ReplyDeleteI let the pension money sit for about five months before rolling the lump sum into my existing IRA. The COLA was 2.2% paid at the end of each month and with even the best CD's paying 1.3% and the markets in turmoil, I was happy to leave it there for that short time. It is now happily with me. My 401K is still in the Gannett plan although I am meeting with Schwab this week to discuss rolling it into the same IRA.. I'm really not unhappy with the plan's choices including the self-directed option.
ReplyDeleteI took the lump sum and rolled it into my new employer's 401(k). I found it less than amusing, though, when Gannett tried to bury me in a mountain of paperwork and detail to avoid giving me my money in a timely manner. So glad to be gone.
ReplyDeleteRolled 401k over into IRA with a financial services brokerage.
ReplyDeletePension into a IRA and 401k recently into Vanguard.
ReplyDeleteTook a long time, but I finally got the pension three months after I quit. I had to use it at the time as a lump sum to pay expenses.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't even known about it until they froze it a few months before I left. Maybe I would have left sooner.
Rolled it, baby, rolled it!
ReplyDeleteI let them both sit for about a year, then found another former Gannett Causilty that was starting in finance management and had him roll over both my pension and 401K into some IRAs
ReplyDeleteuhh, I have money?
ReplyDeleteTook the lump sum on the pension. 401k is still with Gannett, at least for now. I'll eventually move that over to something else.
ReplyDeleteI rolled pension and 401K into two IRA's - one relatively conservative and one that has better growth potential.
ReplyDeleteRolled pension into mutuals; rolled 401K into Schwab account; opened contributory IRA. Had little issues getting funds as I took off when one of the first voluntary packages came out in December 2008 -- ie., when the gettin' was good.
ReplyDeleteI had no choice but to take the pension as a lump sum. I had been dealing with a financial adviser already, so I rolled the pension and my 401k into an IRA with instructions that not a dollar of my money be invested in Gannett.
ReplyDeleteI left the 401k money in the fund it was in, but in about three weeks I become 401k-eligible at my new job, and I'll be rolling it into that one.
ReplyDeleteI did, however, sell all my Gannett stock. I wish I'd been doing that since the beginning, when it was still $55 a share, but I honestly didn't think about it that much when I was in my 20s.
Sold my stock at 59 1/2 years of age, took it, my 401K and pension and rolled them into IRA's.
ReplyDeleteRolled both into an IRA I already had.
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me: Does Gannett still pay its 401(k) match in stock? You should sell and diversify that -- not just if you work for Gannett, but if you work for any company that pays the match in stock. Otherwise, you'll end up with a single corporate stock taking up a big pile of your retirement fund, and you can ask your friends at Enron what can happen when you do that.
Ha! I spent 6 years with Gannett and left in 1995. I got a note telling me I was entitled to a pension of $308 a month on retirement.
ReplyDeleteWhen the newspaper industry started tanking a few years ago, I wanted to cash out my pension in a lump sum. I got hold of benefits at Gannett and they said I couldn't do that. It had something to do with changes that had been made to the plan since my departure from the company.
So now I'm just wondering if Gannett will be around to pay me $308 a month starting in about 2023.
Oh, and my wife is entitled to about $420 a month. So collectively we've got around $730 a month on the line. Doesn't sound like much -- but hell, it's about $8700 a year. That's real money.
I rolled my 401k and pension into an IRA at a Mutual Fund company. This was accomplished with no paperwork - all was done over a 3 way conference call. And the subsequent investment has done very nicely thank you. I am pleased.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the difficulty of fund transfers....I had no problem at all with Gannett/Hewitt. Funds transferred from pension and 401k with one telephone call/letter for each account
ReplyDeleteWent with Wells Fargo Advisor for both. Rolled into an IRA.
Wouldn't trust Gannett with a dime, regardless of the infrequency of pension failures....And so happy to have gotten gains for both late 2009 and all of 2010.
Unlike the pensions of Dubow, Martore, Dickey, etal...The frozen plan, if left with Gannett, is unlikely to grow in 2010 without inflation.
Cheap bastards!
Within a year of early retirement from Gannett the 401K was put in an IRA through Vanguard. Lucky on the price/timing of the fund purchase, but it could have gone the other way depending on the day of the transfer -- and there's no control over that.
ReplyDeleteRolled my pension and 401K money into an IRA. Did so right when I got the ax from Gannett, because if they're financially unstable, then leaving my money with them would be dumb.
ReplyDeleteRolled the pension into an IRA. Wish I'd done the same thing with the 401(k), but most of that has recovered except for the Gannett stock.
ReplyDeleteI cashed out and paid a penalty. Gannett kept me so poor for so long I needed the money. Really needed the money.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is still with Gannett but should he leave, we'd probably take the pension with monthly payments(he's a long time employee under the "old" plan)and roll the 401K into an account with Vanguard where we have other accounts.
ReplyDelete11:10 continued . . . we both plan to live to be 100 so we'll take the lower amount for his pension and have them pay out to one of us for a good long time . . . he may have worked there but spouses put in their time too . . .
ReplyDeleteStill getting letters from Hewitt demanding return of money they say I was overpaid into my 401K - I left in December 2008 and rolled the plan into an IRA with a mutual fund company. Do these demands have any force to them? If I just keep ignoring them, is there anything Hewitt can do? It's their mistake and I have never received any explanation of how the error occurred. They say it's my 3rd and final notification. Are they really going to come after me for $510???
ReplyDeleteI rolled it into a brokerage IRA and out of Gannett's sphere of influence as quickly as humanly possible.
ReplyDeleteI rolled my piddling lump sum retirement immediately into a brokerage firm IRA account. The stock market was in the dumper when I left so I waited until the market had rebounded and then I rolled my 401K into my brokerage account. Given Gannett's history of screwing employees, I felt their stock price probably did not reflect the company's health, so I began cashing out the 401K Gannett match as soon as it was allowed, and I was very glad I did.
ReplyDeleteI worked for Gannett and GNS for 8 years from 1988 to 1996 moving several times. Can anyone tell me whether I should have received a pension or lump sum?
ReplyDeleteNot only will they come after you for $510. They'll trash your credit report and possibly garnish future wages if it's allowed in your state.
ReplyDeleteYou should send a certified letter that asks for a full explanation. Then, threaten legal action for harassment.
Rolled the 401K into an existing IRA account with a brokerage. Rolled the pension into a new IRA account in a socially responsible investment mutual fund - wanted to remove the Gannett taint from the money. Transition was pretty seeamless, but, of course, this was in 1999.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how Hewitt can trash my credit - this is not a debt I incurred. I have absolutely no relationship with them or Gannett at this time. Is there anyone here who did not pay back the money as demanded? What was the result? Hewitt should have to eat it - it was their mistake and too nearly two years to find.
ReplyDeleteRolled my 401 K into an IRA. Waited two years and took the monthly Gannett pension checks with some penalties for early retirement. I worried that the pension would go bust when former colleagues saw their pensions frozen in place. Glad I started taking the monthly payout, which allows me put the full $22,000 a year allowable in a 403 plan with the school district where I'm a teacher.
ReplyDeleteI took it all and put it into an IRA at a brokerage firm. But I did have to push hard for them to send me my pension and 401K checks after leaving USAT at the end of 2007. Cost me an extra $1,000 because the market went down.
ReplyDeleteHum, maybe that's why Hewitt is going away?
ReplyDeleteRolled it into an IRA/investor at my credit union. Took Gannett several months past the 90 days promised in writing to get it settled. Suprised? I wonder how many people the company did this to? How much do you think they made off of that money while they sat on it. Stocks were less than two bucks when I was canned and over thirteen when I finally got my pension (remember, they froze it, stock driven).
ReplyDeleteIn my case, the lump sum pension payment was released TOO QUICKLY. If they had kept it another week, or if I have applied for it a week later, I would have had another $800 or so of interest.
ReplyDeleteAs it was, I lost a quarter's worth of interest. Such bullshit!
So 10:34 it's the companies fault that you got your money too quickly. Wow how do we continue to function without great minds like yours
ReplyDeleteI already had another employer so I rolled it over to them. I also like stink on skunk got my $20,000 pension and cashed that baby in got a lump some pay out of $13,000. I would not let this company keep a penny. I was one that was out just after thanksgiving two years ago. Life after Gannett is great. Better pay, Benefits and just others who care about you.
ReplyDeleteI took the lump sum pension payout. Did not want to see that disappear in Gannet's hands. Didn't roll it over, paid the tax on it and invested in tropical real estate ;) 401k is still with Gannett, I think that is well protected by law and over the years I've sold off the Gannett stock and moved it to other funds, so not heavy with GCI. Still, I think there is still plenty of cronyism going on with the managed funds there, so I'll likely be happy to roll it over elsewhere soon.
ReplyDelete