ABA Family Legal Guide

The Rights of Older Americans

Pensions

Traditional Pension Plans

I want to change jobs. May I take my pension benefits with me to my new job?

If you change jobs before your pension has vested, you usually lose all the benefits you built up in your old job, although your employer must refund money you put into the fund. If you change jobs after your benefits have vested, you are entitled to those benefits. You may put (or roll over) those funds into an individual retirement account (IRA) or some other type of retirement program (to avoid taxation) or transfer the funds to the new employer's pension plan if possible. It is often not possible, though some unions have reciprocal agreements that allow you to change employers and transfer your benefits. There are also some state or nationwide pension systems that allow job changes with continued participation in a unified pension program (such as Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, known as TIAA-CREF).