Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: what do you mean you will loose your retirment?  don't you  have a  401k and haven't  they already vested on however much you have put in.  how can they take that away. P.S. I don't understand much about retirment. No 401k. I've only worked here for 5 years. As of now, 30yrs, you are guranteed (supposedly ) a full pension. After 10 years, you get a pension, but it's barely anything. With my time, I don't have enough to get any pension.   you've only been there 5 yrs? what did you do there?

I still work on the line doing paint repair. (sanding and polishing dirt off freshly painted cars) Very boring and mundane.

Quoted: Quoted: I have no idea what you'd be sacrificing in order to accept that sum of cash but whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck. Well, I would only lose my pay and retirement. My wife also works for GM, so her health insurance would cover me. My wife and I have discussed me leaving GM for my business and she supports me 100%. As I said, we were working towards this anyways. This would be just an extra incentive. But, this would be a big jump for me. I know I can do it, but there is always that feeling of failure in the back of my head. I'm only 26, so I have my whole life ahead of me (God giving). Thank you for the good wishes. I wish you the same.

You're ONLY 26?? And GM wants to give you a hundred grand to go away??? You don't understand how fortunate you are! I wish somebody had given me a hundred Gs when I was in my 20s, struggling to get ahead. That's like the GI Bill was for our elders, in the potential it has for you. (Except you don't have to serve in the mili.! )

100,000 dollars! My God- use it for your education- you could really go places with that money, if you invest it in skills and education! Go to college, get a degree in engineering or something else practical.

And DON'T spend it on non-essential items at all- it's an investment in your future!

GM is either slowly going down the hopper, or is going to come back big-time as a non-union shop, somewhere else. Either way, it's no longer the place for you, so leave it behind, and with the $$$, while they are offering it.

Time to get away from the 20th century and embrace the 21st- Wow- I wish I were you right now.

Kris,

What are you doing with the signs? How far along are you? Are you making them? Coroplast and vinyl? Silkscreen, monument and boxes?... etc?

I just sold one of mine off.

ZFB

I'll never understand GM's business practices.  My father, a 40 year GM employee in Flint Michigan, was just put on a six month PAID layoff.

Why in the world are they paying people that don't show up to work?  I appreciate the gesture, but it just seems really odd.

Take it

My dad walked away from GM ( Delco Moraine Brake Plant in Dayton OH ) approx 8 years ago.

He had worked there 35-40 years and could see the bad times ahead with downsizing / Delphi Parts Div taking over GM jobs etc.

A bird in the hand ....

Best of luck and congrats on your pending retirement / new sign venture either way.

Take the $$$ and show'em your tail lights.....

Hmmmm

"Deal or No Deal"

I say take it.

Fox news just reported that the courts may only approve up to $35,000.00 per person, down from what was originally offered.

They also said 5,000 people will be returning to work and 13,000 people will be eligable for the money.

Quoted: Kris, What are you doing with the signs? How far along are you? Are you making them? Coroplast and vinyl? Silkscreen, monument and boxes?... etc? I just sold one of mine off. ZFB

I do all kinds of printed and cut vinyl on all kinds of materials including coroplast. I'm just getting into the backlighted stuff and plan to do the screen printing also.

What do you mean you sold one of your's off?

Quoted: Quoted: I have no idea what you'd be sacrificing in order to accept that sum of cash but whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck. Well, I would only lose my pay and retirement. My wife also works for GM, so her health insurance would cover me. My wife and I have discussed me leaving GM for my business and she supports me 100%. As I said, we were working towards this anyways. This would be just an extra incentive. But, this would be a big jump for me. I know I can do it, but there is always that feeling of failure in the back of my head. I'm only 26, so I have my whole life ahead of me (God giving). Thank you for the good wishes. I wish you the same.

If your only 26.....TAKE THE MONEY!  As it's been pointed out, if GM bails on their benefits program (which is likely considering their financial situation) you'd be left high and dry.  This way, you still get a nice chunk of change.  Besides, your whole life is ahead of you and this gives you a quick financial boost to work towards your goals.  Take the money and don't look back.

Quoted: Fox news just reported that the courts may only approve up to $35,000.00 per person, down from what was originally offered. They also said 5,000 people will be returning to work and 13,000 people will be eligable for the money.

I beleive that may only be for employees with 30+ years in. The 100K was for people without enough time to retire.

Quoted: Quoted: Kris, What are you doing with the signs? How far along are you? Are you making them? Coroplast and vinyl? Silkscreen, monument and boxes?... etc? I just sold one of mine off. ZFB I do all kinds of printed and cut vinyl on all kinds of materials including coroplast. I'm just getting into the backlighted stuff and plan to do the screen printing also. What do you mean you sold one of your's off?

I am a full time Real Estate Broker, my wife and I along with a few others own a huge office here in Livonia. I owned a sign company here in Livonia (we did all that I asked you about) and worked a ton of silk screening as well, mainly shooting the screens for customers who needed them.

I sold that business off to two guys who worked for me. I also own a sign install company that I am selling as well.

AIN plastics is out of business Laird is the best supplier in the area...BTW.

Anyone with a plotter/ cutter and a computer is opening up a business now.

Take the $100k and run. If you are even half competant in the sign business you will be making six figures within two years.

I would go on a rampage and start tearing stuff up.  Then tell them if they really want to get rid of you it's going to cost them at least double.  

What about medical?

Quoted: I wouldn't do it, but I am very risk averse. GM has a very nice pension & benefits setup. Then again, if GM goes bankrupt, that may all disappear. Maybe you should take the money while they are still offering it.

GM WIL go bankrupt and those benefits WILL disappear. The worst part is you could see this coming for the last 30 years.

Take it, just talk to a good accountant so you don't up paying $38k in taxes. I am sure that GM will not be offering this again. Depending on your age health insurance for a family will cost you between $500 and $1000 per month.

Good Luck!

Take the money and run.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: what do you mean you will loose your retirment?  don't you  have a  401k and haven't  they already vested on however much you have put in.  how can they take that away. P.S. I don't understand much about retirment. No 401k. I've only worked here for 5 years. As of now, 30yrs, you are guranteed (supposedly ) a full pension. After 10 years, you get a pension, but it's barely anything. With my time, I don't have enough to get any pension.   you've only been there 5 yrs? what did you do there? I still work on the line doing paint repair. (sanding and polishing dirt off freshly painted cars) Very boring and mundane.

unreal.
dude.. TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN!!!!!

A buddy of mine worked for TI several years ago, and was nearing retirement. They offered him and several of his group members early retirement, with some kind of buyout. They were not yet ready to leave yet, so they declined in order to stay on a little longer..

They all got RIF'd less than a year later with NO severance package, leaving only with what they built up in their portfolios...

Food for thought...

Quoted: What about medical?

Wife has medical that would cover me.

Quoted: Quoted: Perhaps GM may offer you nothing in 2-5 next week years. A job is just a job. Take the cash and start looking for a new one.

I'd be out of there so damned fast that I'd have to have someone scrape my asshole off the seat and mail it to me.

Quoted: Quoted: I have no idea what you'd be sacrificing in order to accept that sum of cash but whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck. Well, I would only lose my pay and retirement. My wife also works for GM, so her health insurance would cover me. My wife and I have discussed me leaving GM for my business and she supports me 100%. As I said, we were working towards this anyways. This would be just an extra incentive. But, this would be a big jump for me. I know I can do it, but there is always that feeling of failure in the back of my head. I'm only 26, so I have my whole life ahead of me (God giving). Thank you for the good wishes. I wish you the same.

If you are only 26, take the money and work on your business.

- As of 2015, GM has stated that they will have VERY limited production/manufacturing within the US. (WRITING ON THE WALL!)
- Because you are only 26, GM will not be around for you to retire from. In the best case, you'll be laid off and on for the next 10 years, then dumped all together.
- And in the next contract, I will bet, people of your seniority will get screwed over. BIG TIME! Less benefits or you'll have to pay more for them, and less retirement or you'll have to fund most of your own.
- You have a LONG time ahead of you before will really retire. Most likely with our economy structure, you'll have to work until you die or unless you save and invest for youself.
- You will never get rich working for somone else. If your wife can help out while she still has a job at GM and you can get your business running well, that might set you up.


On the other hand...

- your business could fail if you are not in the right market or don't pursuit it with all you have. Whether your business grows or fails has a lot to do with how much you are willing to put into it and the expense of other things while you are getting it going. Like recreational activities.

If I were you, keep your wife at GM as long as possible, take the money, don't look back and work your ass off to get your business going. If you don't have any other skills, it may be hard to find the kind of pay GM will give you, but from what they have said, you and the others of your age probably won't be around for very much longer.

FYI...I work for GM. Hired into GM in 1984. Have two skilled trades cards and am currently laid off. I am also looking at what's happening and for the majority of people with less than 15 years, they are going to get screwed worse than the ones that have 15 or more years in. And I am waiting for the day, they come out and just tell the Union to piss off and screw over everybody.

GM wants to be a global company without any loyalty to America and the American worker who helped build the company. And they want to kill the UAW. This global market place will do it and you'll see a lot of GM people get the shaft and the bosses at GM won't give a rats ass about it. And that's the truth.

Take the money, save most of it, put the rest into building your business and don't look back, because I doubt you'll get this kind of a chance again.

You're young.

You have an alternative source of substantial income.

You have medical coverage (thru the wife-unit).

It appears that GM is having financial difficulty and may resort to reductions in workforce if people do not leave voluntarily, although I wonder what the union CBA has to say about that.  

I say do it.

Talk with a tax expert to determine what the net proceeds will be.  I doubt very much that the $100k is taxed as a "gift".  There is consideration on your part ... dollars to doughnuts you will be asked to sign a release and waiver as consideration.  Most likely it will be taxed as ordinary income (but as another poster pointed out, what bracket you will fall into will be relevant).

Do NOT use the proceeds to pay off your home!!!  Paying off tax-advantaged debt like a mortgage is leaving money on the table.  See Ric Edelman's "The New Rules of Money" for more on this.

Quoted: Quoted: What about medical? Wife has medical that would cover me.

Well shit... there ya go.

Quoted: GM is offering a fools bet.  I bet there will be plenty of fools who will take it. They will be broke 24 months after they walk.  Looks like it's gonna be a 2yr party here in Michigan.....until the money runs out. Shop_Rat $100k ain't shit. Keep working for GM & keep the sign gig as a side biz.

Or you could do this! SouthHoof is right about the 2 year party and the fools bet. This happened in the later 1980's.

But how much time can you put into your sign business if you are working full time on something else?

OR you could take your next 3 years of wages and put it away. You wouldn't be able to touch any of it. But you'd have at least 65 thousand in the bank and "may" still have a job.

At 26 you still have a ton of time to put into a different job should things not work out for your sign business (I could understand if you are near retirement to stay for benefits)

I can't believe you would even need to think about it. I would have accepted the offer on the spot.

Pay off any CC debts you have right now. Get your business incorporated/LLC if it aint (limited liability = good)

Take the money; invest and save.  

That's my advice, get a broker to find some nicely diversified mutual funds, and maybe spread a little on individual stocks in the market for fun.  Set up a Roth IRA, and drop some change in there.  Set up a money market account and some college funds for your kids, and drop some in there too.  $100K goes a long way for a 26 year old!  Hell, I'm 24, and if I had that money I could retire at 45!

This is a great opportunity to give yourself some financial security! Take it!  But as a disclaimer, I also recommend having another job lined up in case the sign biz doesn't take off.  

Do it!

I say take it and go do your own thing!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Perhaps GM may offer you nothing in 2-5 next week years. A job is just a job. Take the cash and start looking for a new one. I'd be out of there so damned fast that I'd have to have someone scrape my asshole off the seat and mail it to me.

Now THAT'S FUNNY!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Perhaps GM may offer you nothing in 2-5 next week years. A job is just a job. Take the cash and start looking for a new one. I'd be out of there so damned fast that I'd have to have someone scrape my asshole off the seat and mail it to me. Now THAT'S FUNNY!

Dude!!!

I'd have the wife quit too. Her time would be better spent marketing your new business.

"Billy Mack, is a detective down in Texas..."

Oh sorry. TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN. If you think you will be financially secure, get out of there.

Didn't I read this past week or so that GM had lost another 2 BILLION dollars that they forgot about?

Somewhere a Sinking Ship is looking for it's rats.... Get moving bro! At some point the axe is going to swing and when it cuts, it's gonna cut deep. If they are offering you an early out, it's because they have already identified you as 'redundant'. They won't ask twice.

I'd take the money and GTFO of michigan.  Really, do you expect to still be working there 5 years from now when you can actually get vested in the pension?  Can you read the writing on the wall?
If it was me, and I really enjoyed working on a car assembly line, I'd take the money and look for a car company with a better union contract, like Toyota.

Do it NOW. The next round of buyouts is never as sweet as the first.

Just made the main headline of Drudgereport, link goes to link

Quoted: Didn't I read this past week or so that GM had lost another 2 BILLION dollars that they forgot about? Somewhere a Sinking Ship is looking for it's rats.... Get moving bro! At some point the axe is going to swing and when it cuts, it's gonna cut deep. If they are offering you an early out, it's because they have already identified you as 'redundant'. They won't ask twice.

GM is only gonna get worse before it gets better.

Take the money and start a new career with a nice addition to your nest egg.

my .02

btw, best of luck on your decision

Quoted: Quoted: I have no idea what you'd be sacrificing in order to accept that sum of cash but whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck. Well, I would only lose my pay and retirement. My wife also works for GM, so her health insurance would cover me. My wife and I have discussed me leaving GM for my business and she supports me 100%. As I said, we were working towards this anyways. This would be just an extra incentive. But, this would be a big jump for me. I know I can do it, but there is always that feeling of failure in the back of my head. I'm only 26, so I have my whole life ahead of me (God giving). Thank you for the good wishes. I wish you the same.

Being only 26 you should highly consider the $100k.

I have no idea what the cost of benefits are for you - I do know health care is HELLA expensive when you get older. Maybe put the 100K in an IRA or something.

I do know GM and others are FLEECING ex-employees of their benifets during retirement! Whats ironic - is that its LEGAL because its part of a union agreement, and the union 'oked' it. Now, if it was just a non-union employee, it would be illegal for them to strip them of their benifits (wife works for the Dept of Labor).

Anyway - what I am saying is - GM could totally tank someday. They arent competitive and they are already going back on deals they made to people in the past. Perhaps a bird in hand is better than 2 in the bush.

Still -maybe consult a financial planner. Is the long term health benefits I would be most concerned about.

I'd do it, mainly because they are looking for ways to get rid of you and they WILL eventually find on.  But you should probably put a good bit of that 100k away for the future.  Remember, running your own business means that YOU take all the risk and retirement isn't guaranteed.

ETA I just read that your wife still works there and her health benefits will cover you AND you have a reliable source of income.  Plus your only 26, so that is a lot of time for that 100k to grow, so long as you spend it wisely (and I'm not talking about guns and ammo or hookers and blow).

IBTB - In Before The "Blaspheme"!

Quoted: what do you mean you will loose your retirment?  don't you  have a  401k and haven't  they already vested on however much you have put in.  how can they take that away. P.S. I don't understand much about retirment.

They can't take retirement savings away.  That money is taken out of YOUR paycheck AFTER you are paid.  That money stays with you.  It is money invested in certain funds like stocks and bonds, not money put into the company's account for your retirement.  

That is why EVERYONE should be putting money into a 401k or an IRA if your company does not have a 401k.  That is YOUR money and nobody can take that from you, but social security or the company's retirement plans are not your money until someone hands you a check.

Detroit News is now saying "more than $100k"

Quoted: They can't take retirement savings away.

That is true provided that the money is vested.  Most employers have vesting requirements (typically 90 days to one year) before money contributed becomes truly "yours" in a 401k or similar pension.  

As always, check your summary plan descriptions (SPDs) as provided to you by your employer.

Geez....my last severance package was three months base pay

Take the money and run.

Invest it in your sign business and pray that you have business acumen.

GM is falling apart. Take the cash and run. Use your experience to try and get a job at Toyota or Daimler Chrysler, both of those comapnies seem to be in very solid shape right now

Considering the way GM is going and you may get laid off with nothing... take the cash and run.  GM is going down hill unless the new Tahoe can save them.