Highland Wealth

Think your pension is with Westlake? Call us at (225) 408-4569 before you assume you know the rules.

If you've spent years at the Plaquemine or Geismar plants, your pension may actually trace back to a company name you haven't thought about in decades.

Westlake acquired Axiall. Axiall came from Georgia Gulf and legacy PPG chemical assets. Each of those companies had different pension plans, different provisions, and different retirement rules.

And in many cases, those rules came along with the plan.

That means two employees working in the same plant, doing similar jobs, can have very different pension benefits based solely on when they were hired and which company they originally hired on with.

Some pensions are frozen. Others continued to accrue benefits. Early retirement reductions can vary significantly from one plan to another.

We've met with people who were confident they understood their pension, only to discover they were basing major retirement decisions on incomplete or outdated information.

This is not something you want to guess about.

Before you make decisions about retirement dates, lump sums, or pension elections, make sure you're looking at the right plan and the right set of rules.

Sometimes the details buried in old paperwork can be worth far more than people realize.

Turning 65 soon? Call us at (225) 408-4569 before your Medicare enrollment window comes and goes.

This isn't a complicated planning issue, but the cost of getting it wrong can follow you for the rest of your retirement.

Medicare eligibility begins at age 65, and you generally get a seven-month enrollment window: the three months before your birthday month, your birthday month, and the three months after.

Miss that window without qualifying coverage, and you may face a late enrollment penalty added to your Medicare premium.

Not for a year.

For as long as you have Medicare.

The people most often caught off guard are early retirees. They moved to individual coverage, stayed on a spouse's health plan, or assumed someone would let them know when it was time to enroll.

Unfortunately, that reminder often never comes.

If retirement is happening before age 65, Medicare should be part of the plan from day one. What covers you until then, what it costs, and exactly when you need to enroll should all be mapped out well in advance.

We help clients put those dates and deadlines in writing so nothing falls through the cracks. When it's time to select a Medicare plan, we'll connect you with a Medicare specialist so you can get advice from someone who focuses on it every day.

And if you know someone turning 64 this year, send them this.

Please join us in wishing a very Happy Birthday to Highland Wealth's Director of Wealth Management Services, John Eric Ginn! 🎉

Your positive attitude, hard work, and passion for helping clients succeed make you an invaluable part of our team. We hope your day is filled with celebration, joy, and everything that makes you smile!

Happy Birthday! 🎂✨

Think one birthday can't change your retirement? Call us at (225) 408-4569 before you make a decision you'll regret.

This is one of the most important conversations we have with ExxonMobil employees nearing retirement.

At ExxonMobil, there is a hard line at age 55. To be treated as a retiree, you need at least 15 years of pension service and you must leave on or after your 55th birthday.

Make it? A pension starting at 55 may pay roughly 75% of the full benefit.

Miss it by a month? You could be classified as a former employee rather than a retiree. That same pension starting at 55 may pay closer to 38%.

Read that again.

Nearly half the benefit can disappear because of a retirement date.

We've seen people accept severance packages, pursue new opportunities, or simply decide they're ready to be done without realizing this line existed. Nobody is going to stop you and ask whether you've considered the difference. By the time it's discovered, the decision may already be final.

If you're 53, 54, or approaching 55, this is the kind of planning conversation that should happen months before retirement, not after paperwork is signed.

Think your pension lump sum is a fixed amount? Call us at (225) 408-4569 before you assume that's true.

One of the biggest misconceptions we hear is that a pension lump sum is a set pile of money waiting with your name on it.

It isn't.

Your lump sum is based on a calculation, and one of the biggest factors in that calculation can change over time.

Most pension plans use rates and assumptions that are locked in for a specific period. That means two employees with nearly identical pensions who retire just weeks apart can end up with very different lump-sum values.

We're not saying you should try to time the market or predict interest rates. Nobody can do that consistently.

What we are saying is that if retirement is on your horizon in the next year or two, it's worth understanding how your specific pension plan works and what factors could impact your payout.

In some cases, adjusting a retirement date by a matter of weeks can make a meaningful difference.

That's a conversation to have 12 months before retirement, not 12 days before.

Happy Birthday to Highland Wealth's Lead Client Onboarding Specialist, Lindsey McBride! 🎉

Your dedication, expertise, and commitment to creating exceptional client experiences make a lasting impact every day. Thank you for all that you do to help our clients feel welcomed, supported, and set up for success.

Wishing you a fantastic birthday and an amazing year ahead!

Got a question about your retirement? Call us at (225) 408-4569 before you spend another year guessing.

What is my 401(k) actually invested in? Where does my pension income come from? If something happens to me, will my wife be okay? Am I saving enough? What does financial advice actually cost?

The most common thing we hear in a first meeting is:

"This is probably a dumb question, but..."

The truth is, it never is.

Those are the questions that matter most.

Too many people put off getting help because they think they should already know the answers. So they sit through benefits meetings, check the default boxes, and hope everything works out.

We take a different approach.

If something doesn't make sense, ask. If we use a term you don't understand, stop us. Our job is to explain it clearly, not make it complicated.

The best financial decisions often start with a question you've been meaning to ask for years.