When I retire, how does my retirement get paid out?

I am a teacher with a pension and my husband a 401k. When we retire how does our retirement get paid out? Is it monthly? Biweekly? Or do we get it one lump sum? Can we decide how it's paid out? How is it decided how much you get per check? We're in our late 20's so we obviously have decades before this happens, but we were curious how it work.

Public Comments

1. It's getting paid out right now in these bailouts. There ain't gonna be nada left when you are ready to retire. Dream on Steve. The money (if there is any there) is going to be worthless. It will be like the Weimar Republic, where it took a wheelbarrow full of currency to buy a loaf of bread.
2. For the 401(k), you get to decide how to withdraw the funds (within certain limits - you can't take out too much or too little). As for the teacher's pension, if you have a 403(b) plan, the withdrawals basically work the same as the 401(k) (you choose when and how much within certain limits). If you have a defined benefit plan, the payout will depend on a formula - check with your plan administrator for the formula). Both the 401(k) and 403(b) are defined contribution plans and both pay out only until the money is gone. Under the defined benefit plan, you get the payout until both you and your husband die (assuming you choose survivors benefits) regardless of how long you live. Because the DC plans are only good as long as there is money in the account, you need to ensure that you don't draw down the balance and end up outliving the money. Edit: The bailouts have nothing to do with this money - by law, your accounts are safe (with the exception of the principal loss that has accompanied the recent stock market declines) and no matter how much the government hands out in bailouts to companies, it will not affect your accounts.