5 Secrets to help you keep what you’ve earned for Retirement

We all know that accurate record-keeping of your career’s years of service is vital to receiving all that you have earned for retirement.  However, how many of us are keeping track of those years ourselves?  Or, are we depending upon others to do the tracking for us?

WHO IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE ACCURACIES?

Perhaps some of you would initially be tempted to wait until YOU were contacted first by the associated departments that manage these areas.  However, it is important to remember that YOU must be proactive about what your entitlements are; and you should be the one to initiate contacts and ensure accuracies of information that exist.

WHAT EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES COULD EXIST THAT MIGHT IMPACT YOUR RETIREMENT?

In my particular situation, I had one extenuating circumstance that I knew was going to impact my retirement benefit calculations.    It was extremely important that I verified all of this information far enough in advance of my official retirement date so that all of my benefits would be calculated on the correct, revised start date.  All of the information was correct prior to my exit.

What extenuating circumstances could you think of, that could impact your retirement benefit calculations?

WHAT ACTIONS COULD YOU NOW TAKE?

We all know that people move around within divisions and departments.  The person that you have spoken with a few years ago may no longer be in the same role when you are ready to retire.

Also, information can change over the years.  What was valid at a specific time, may need to be updated several years later.

So, to ensure that you are being proactive concerning your years of service, consider taking the following steps:

  1. Review the years of service that your company’s system has for you on file. If you believe that corrections need to be made, contact the appropriate department with your correct data, and update as soon as possible.
  2. Keep a record of specific circumstances that could affect your years of service.  Ensure that ALL departments that have a stake in your retirement benefits are reporting the information correctly.
  3. While you are speaking with these above-mentioned departments, make sure that policies and procedures that you knew about previously are still intact. Confirm if updating is needed.
  4. Keep a list of people that you speak with, the department to which they belong, and the conversation that you had with them.
  5. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE EVERYTHING IN WRITING, which could be on hard copy, on a flash drive, or in the CLOUD.

You are the owner of your destiny.  These tips will help ensure that you receive the workplace benefits that you have earned during your career.

(Thank you to Dmitry Ratushny – UNSPLASH,  for the photograph).