How to enter Pension information into your Untangle MINI
You can see different ways you can add your Defined Benefit pension into your MINI below.
Sample Pension
Here is an example of the headline information from a Defined Benefit Pension Statement. With this statement, there are two ways you can enter your numbers into your Untangle MINI.
1. As a DB pension
As a Defined Benefit Pension. This assumes you’ll stay at the firm until you retire. Within this method there are two ways to do this
2. As a DC pension
If they give you the Commuted Value (also known as the Lump-sum value, etc.), you can input it as if it was a Defined Contribution Pension. This assumes that you, and an employer, continue to make contributions to your retirement, but your financial future will not expect a guaranteed income stream
1. How to enter your numbers into the MINI as a Defined Benefit Pension
There are two ways to enter a Defined Benefit Pension.
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a) Use the full estimated pension number given
b) Use the current pension earned, plus your ongoing contributions and your ongoing contributions (this is the more conservative approach).
a) Using the full estimated pension number given. (This is the less conservative approach).
In the Retirement & Pension section, you'll see this input card:
The number you want to input into this card from the examples is Your future pension (circled below).
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CAUTION: in this documentation, they should state if this is in today's dollars, or in future dollars. If it isn't clear, as the company administering your pension. You want it in today's dollars.
NOTE: Your future pension is an estimate from the firm that administers your pension. There are assumptions that go into this estimate that may not apply to you, such as future earnings growth and economic conditions like inflation.
However, overall this is a reasonable estimate and a great place to start. Keep an eye on this number each year. Many pensions become more valuable over time
You will also see these input cards (below). When you use the full estimated pension number give, you will leave the cards above blank.
b) Using the current pension earned, plus your ongoing contributions and your employer's ongoing contributions (this is more conservative, it is also the default method).
In the Retirement & Pension section, you'll see these input card:
Using the same example, the number you want to input into this section is Pension earned to date.
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CAUTION: In the documentation, they should state if this is in today’s dollars, or in future dollars. The company administering your pension will be able to tell you what this is.
You want it in today’s dollars.
In the DB Pension card, where it says Enter the current value of your pension – input the number above. NOTE: if they give you a monthly number, you will need to multiply it by 12.
You will also see these input cards (below).
You may find these within the document details, or you may need to look at your Pay Stub to input these numbers.
2. How to enter your numbers into the MINI as a Defined Contribution Pension
(Sisterly Advice: use this method 2 or method (b) above, if your current company isn’t THE ONE you think you will stay at for life).
In the Retirement & Pension section, you'll see this input card:
If your pension documents give you the Commuted Value (sometimes called the Lump-sum value, or some other name that indicates what you would be able to take with you if you left the pension plan today), then you can enter the pension in as a Defined Contribution pension.
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In the Defined Contribution card, enter the Commuted Value of your pension. This is the amount you could walk away with today (well, not quite walk away, it would need to be transferred into an account called a LIRA – Locked-In-Retirement Account).
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In Your Contribution and the Employer Contribution, you may find the information for these inputs within the document details, or you may need to look at your Pay Stub to input these numbers.