Yes, you are very mistaken. Your traditional pension took your 5 highest paid years out of all the years you worked up to mid-2008, averaged them together, that was your highest average annual pay. They then take 2% of that annual average and multiply it by the number of years you worked up to a maximum 25 years, even if you worked 26 or more years before mid-2008. Thus if you put in at least 25 qualified years you get 50% of your highest annual average pay at 60 years old.
Why tell you all that? Many of us were working diligently towards that 25 year goal but never made it. I got 19 years on it by 2008. And since I was a rehire my pay was held down so my pension will be figured on much less than top out pay. So my most productive years got me less while FedEx was telling us every year in a nice glossy mailing how much we'd get if we'd stick with them. Think ending the traditional pension was an impromptu event? Years in the planning sir.
Now, the portable pension. It's true that most major corporations don't offer a TRADITIONAL PENSION anymore. Most of them switched to a cash balance plan, which is what our portable pension is. It's not 8%, it's 9%, and to get that much your age plus your years of service must equal 75 or more. A 50 year old with 25 years qualifies. A new hire gets 3% of his gross. The 4% is 1% of your balance added as interest every quarter. Yes, you got your traditional pension plus some money in your portable based on your much higher topped out pay. Think what a new hire in 2003 has gotten by now based on his much lower pay and contribution, and how difficult it is for him to contribute to his 401k, and that and his Social Security is all he'll have. You can retire at 60, he will work to 67-70 and have to scrape by. Good for you, but don't assume it's great for everyone. If FedEx sticks to the new pay plan then newhires will do better, 30 somethings will do better, but a lot of us long time midrange couriers got screwed.