What You Should Know about Retiring from ExxonMobil

With so many investment advisors to choose from, how do you know that you’d be getting the right advice from a person who is intimately familiar with all aspects of retiring from ExxonMobil? It’s important to note we are NOT employees of, endorsed by, nor do we have any affiliation with ExxonMobil. We just have a lot of experience and in our experience here are some things to look for.

Knowledge of the ExxonMobil Retirement Plan

A long time ago employees went to Houston for two days to complete their paperwork. Now it's overnighted to you by an appointed retirement counselor.

The ExxonMobil retirement plan is a delicate process that covers several months and requires several different steps. Suffice to say, there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle. We made it our goal long ago to learn how to help people through this process. A DIY annuitant might leave their assets within the Savings plan or roll it over to their own self managed IRA handling all the details on their own. For those who engage an advisor, we are generally involved at the beginning once you notify your supervisor of your intent to retire.

From there we remain available to assist and guide you through the:

Retirement package
Lower cost stock/net unrealized appreciation
Final savings plan distribution
Transfer to your personal accounts
Reconciliation after the assets have been received
Lump Sum vs. Pension

For more information about this, please watch our video on Net Unrealized Appreciation and Low Cost Basis stock.

Tax Preparation & Quarterly Vouchers

We believe there is value in having an organization that handles the investments also be involved in the tax preparation process you undertake, should you choose to do so, when retiring from ExxonMobil.

Knowledge of the Intricacies of ExxonMobil stock

We have learned that the ExxonMobil stock is an investment our clients know well. In particular, their experience ranges from observing:

Large market price fluctuations
Periods of price stagnation
How dividends work
Sometimes seeing the stock price move differently than the general markets

When retiring from ExxonMobil, your shares can be left in the company savings plan or rolled over and individually managed per person. Although we encourage people to reduce the concentration risk, we are not pressuring people to sell shares.

We have much experience managing several aspects of the ExxonMobil retirement plan, including buying ExxonMobil stock, selling ExxonMobil stock, writing covered calls and doing option collars.

ExxonMobil Pre-Retiree Analysis

It only stands to good reason that it would be wise to get your ducks in a row well in advance of your actual retirement date.

Typically we encourage people to bring in their savings plan statement, pension estimator, tax return, and a copy of their benefits compensation booklet for review with us years before actually retiring from ExxonMobil.

General Retirement Planning Tips for ExxonMobil Employees

Aside from what you need to know about retiring from ExxonMobil as mentioned above, we also would recommend these general retirement planning tips for ExxonMobil Employees.

Conflicts of Interest

As a future retiree you should also be aware of the conflicts of Interest that exist from the investment community at large: If you are a do-it-yourselfer with existing knowledge and comfort to manage the investment assets, taxes, withdrawal strategies, etc. you could save money by leaving it in your current plan or doing it yourself with your own IRA Rollover. Investment firms including mine (Advisor.Investments) have an economic incentive for clients to roll over assets which is a conflict of interest. Before you engage the help of someone make sure to read their ADV and make it a point to understand whether they are acting as a fiduciary or not. In addition, be sure to understand the services being offered, Investment Philosophy, how they are compensated, what happens if you leave, and most importantly make sure it's a match with your own philosophy and desire for services.

Choose a Third Party Custodian

We understand that many who are retiring from ExxonMobil feel the importance of a third-party unaffiliated custodian to hold their retirement assets.

We currently use Charles Schwab whom provides the clients with monthly statements, confirmations for each transaction, 24 on-line access online to account, federal and state tax withholding from IRA accounts, and the appropriate reporting to the IRS.

Make Sure You Have Freedom of Choice

Although one of our firm’s distinguishing features is how deeply our process goes, it's inevitable that some will feel differently from us about certain issues.

And it's important for anyone retiring from ExxonMobil to know that they remain in control of and responsible for deciding their own withdrawal rate. Clients also choose their target investment allocation objectives percentages. That way the portfolio is personalized for them and not part of the cookie-cutter model that applies everybody. You will also have the ability to terminate your relationship with us without any backend sales charges or penalty fees.

Consider the Retirement Planning Firm’s Business Model

As an independent advisory firm, we rarely get upfront commissions. Most of the time we're reliant upon quality of services to keep people hopefully for decades. We think being a fiduciary and fee-based SEC registered investment advisor gives us a structure that works for both parties.

Use of a Sound Investment Philosophy

Our investment philosophy has been shaped by working with ExxonMobil employees and the ExxonMobil retirement plan, living through two market crashes, and the desire to try to avoid a permanent loss of capital.

Our belief is that your family’s future wealth will be determined by the quality of actions taken. Quality actions are the result of making quality decisions. Quality decisions rely on knowledge, analysis, and temperance.

Summary of What You Should Know About Retiring From ExxonMobil and Retirement Planning Tips for ExxonMobil Employees

The ExxonMobil retirement plan is a great benefit that has made a difference in the lives of many ExxonMobil employees. Perhaps the most important of our retirement planning tips for ExxonMobil employees is the recommendation that you should make sure the financial advisor helping you is knowledgeable of all aspects of what the ExxonMobil retirement plan has to offer.

Aside from the specifics about what you should know about retiring from ExxonMobil, it’s important to work with a firm that has a business structure that operates in your best interests: independent custodian, transparency, objectivity, etc.

If you’re taking the first step in retiring from ExxonMobil, you probably want to know how much income you will need to live comfortably in retirement. We have designed a Retirement Calculator worksheet to give you a starting point for the process of retiring from ExxonMobil. Please contact us for a copy; we will be glad to help out any ExxonMobil employee, pre-retiree, or retiree.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE: Our associates are NOT affiliated, recommended, nor endorsed by ExxonMobil or any other company. Any documents and materials presented herein have NOT been reviewed or approved by ExxonMobil or any other company and may not be accurate representations of documents and materials published by ExxonMobil or any other company.