If you work for a company long enough to become vested, will you recieve a pension check when you retire?

I worked for a company long enough to become vested. I have not worked for them in about 8 years. I recieved a check of what I had contributed to my retirement when I left, when I didn't roll it over to a new employer's account. Does this mean I won't recieve a pension from them?

Public Comments

1. It depends. There are two things: retirement, like a 401K plan and a pension. Most companies don't offer both anymore, but some still do. You got a payout for something. If it was a pension, I doubt you'll get anything else from them. It was your responsibility to invest it wisely to help you in your retirement years. Call the company and ask what your check was for and if there is still anything of yours within the company's control.
2. Yes, it may be a good ideal to setup your own retirement account, talk to your banker and ask to meet with a representative from their brokerage firm. This person can assist you in setting up your own retirement account, and help you set up other mutual funds for a rainy day.
3. Read this article... http://www.latimes.com/business/investing/la-plan4retire-story18,1,2551781.story
4. Not exactly sure on the rules for pensions but I don't think they cash you out unless you retire. On the 401k side, if your account was under $1,000 they can cash you out. If you do want to move this to a retirement account (pretax) you must come up with the withheld tax money within 60 days to avoid taxes and penalties. If not you can put it in an aftertax vehicle. That is correct that you will not receive anything in the future from this plan because it was cashed out to you.
5. if you didn;t roll that money over, you have to declare it as income and youll have to pay taxes and probably penalty on it - as for the vesting part - if that is a traditional pension, you should start receiving it at retirement, but only working there 8 yrs, it's not going to be very much money each month - most of those old pension plans - you had to work at the company for 40+ yrs to get a pension anywhere near $10,000 per yr - you might a hundred or two per month if your lucky and if that's more than 10 yrs from now - it won;t pay for much
6. The check you received is key. Based on what you decribe, it could have been from either the pension plan or your 401(k). Since it is very uncommon for pension plans to accept employee contributions, it seems unlikely to me that you received a distribution from the pension plan. It is much more likely that you received a 401(k) plan distribution. So, you need to call or write the old company and ask if you have an "accrued benefit" under the pension plan and ask about the nature of the check you received (whether it was from the pension or the 401(k)). If the check was from the pension, it was likely a lump sum distribution (esp. if it was < $5,000) and you are owed nothing more. If not, you are probably entitled to a small monthly check when you retire at 65.