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An Investment in Your Future Self
Preparing for and Transitioning to Retirement from ExxonMobil
It’s tough to keep up with your obligations and responsibilities as an ExxonMobil employee and make informed decisions about benefit plan choices. That challenge intensifies when you approach retirement, with significant and generally irrevocable decisions. We can help you maximize your benefits while you’re working, and help you through the retirement process and on to a confident retirement.
For more than 25 years, ExxonMobil employees and retirees have relied on Cerity Partners advisors to assist them in wealth management and retirement. Partner Doug Garrison, CFP® is an ExxonMobil retiree, and spent over thirty years in ExxonMobil HR. Our familiarity with ExxonMobil benefits means we understand the details and can assist you in avoiding big mistakes and maximizing the value of your company benefits.
For active employees, we can help ensure that your investments are appropriately diversified, considering your risk tolerance, time horizon, and other assets. We can assist in rebalancing your account as appropriate and advise on contribution levels and account destinations.
As you approach retirement, we can help assess whether using low-cost ExxonMobil stock and the tax-benefits of net unrealized appreciation (NUA) makes sense for your plan. Deciding how best to use your after-tax contributions as you take distribution can also be challenging, given the choices you have. And if the bulk of your account is before-tax contributions and earnings, we can establish a rollover IRA for continued tax-deferred earnings.
You have choices to make when it’s time to retire. For many, the biggest decision is whether and when to take all or a portion of your EMPP benefit as an annuity or a lump sum. It’s more than just a question of the lump sum interest rate. The year in which you retire can impact your taxable income if part of your benefit is from the Supplemental Pension Plan (SPP) or the Additional Payments Plan (APP). You should also consider the irrevocable nature of choosing an annuity. We work through the alternatives with our ExxonMobil clients, and find a solution that’s most suitable for their circumstances. It’s a big decision—it’s worth a good conversation.
If you have been granted Restricted Stock/Units or Earnings Bonus Units (EBUs), we’ll help you take that future income into consideration as you budget for your early years of retirement. Do you need or want to continue paying for Group Universal Life (GUL) insurance once you’re retired? We’ll help with that decision.
Disclaimer: Cerity Partners is not endorsed by or affiliated with ExxonMobil Corporation.
Talk to a Cerity Partners Advisor
With the proper planning, your Cerity Partners team can help propel you towards the future you envision.
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Doug Garrison
Partner
Oct 4, 2021 — You’re an ExxonMobil retiree and about to turn 65. You need to make a decision about health insurance. You can move seamlessly from the ExxonMobil Retiree Medical Plan option to the ExxonMobil Medicare Primary Option (MPO), also known as a Medicare Advantage plan, or you can opt-out of the MPO and go into traditional Medicare. How should you make the decision? What are the differences or key variables you should consider?
Apr 27, 2021 — If retirement is only five years or less away, you should have a pretty good notion of what life will look like for you in this next chapter. With so many moving parts, it's important to think through the implications of the various decisions you'll make. Have you considered the following six questions?
Mar 30, 2021 — ExxonMobil employees often sign up for the EMSP because a supervisor or a more tenured colleague tells them it’s a good thing to do. But many participants continue to contribute without thinking through a Savings Plan goal or strategy. Have you considered these four questions?
Feb 9, 2021 — Learn from the mistakes of others? Our blogger reflects on investing mistakes he’s seen participants in the EMSP make over the past forty years.
Jan 14, 2021 — Is your EMSP account on auto-pilot? Take time to think through what’s best for you in the new year. We offer some ideas to help make your decision.
Nov 19, 2020 — According to an email ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods sent all employees on October 21, the company faces "significant headwinds, more work to do and, unfortunately, further reductions are necessary." For many, exiting ExxonMobil may become a reality. What should you do?
Sep 24, 2020 — ExxonMobil stock is at levels last seen in the early 2000s. If you're a retirement-eligible employee and you don't want to sell shares of XOM at these low prices, what are you to do? If you plan to leave ExxonMobil and you've got XOM stock in your EMSP, what's the right strategy?
Tell us about yourself and your current financial situation without cost or obligation. Receive an introduction to a wealth management colleague, have a personal conversation, and get your questions answered.
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