Pension over tuition

Really, you and your husband must make this decision. It totally depends upon your current financial situation with regard to upcoming retirement and your plans (or not) to continue your education.

p.s. You should really try to have your name removed from your post. If it's too late to Edit, then the moderators could help you.

I think it depends on whether you'll utilize the advanced education option. If you're done with school go for the better pension.

It also depends on when you plan to retire. If it's at 62, then twelve years is not a lot to invest in a pension.

I'd sit down and write everything out in columns and numbers.

There are so many variables to consider.

How do the orientation programs compare?

Go for the pension. Hands down. Hardly anybody offers those anymore.

How much more schooling are you anticipating doing, anyway? If you're planning on going back for your bachelor's and DNP, it might be worth it to pick the hospital with the good tuition benefits, but honestly, there are plenty of online BSN programs that are only going to cost you a few thousand bucks. I wouldn't throw away a pension for a couple thousand dollars' worth of tuition reimbursement, unless your plan is to go to the most expensive private university around to continue your education and you fully anticipate racking up $100k or something stupid in further student loans.

It depends. Are you planning on going back to school? How is the healthcare market where you are at?

I simply don't trust pension plans anymore. I have seen too many get eliminated or benefits cut to employees that have earned them. I am young and have (hopefully) many working years ahead of me, plus I am advancing my education. So with my bias and my current state the hospital offering a better tuition plan fits me better. For you.. I don't know enough about your circumstances to form an opinion.

I always thought all the money you contribute is yours from the beginning but that the facility's matching contribution isn't yours until you are vested anywhere between 2-5 years?

Yes your contribution is yours in the pension. In the 403b everything is yours including the employer contribution.

Right from the start or with a vesting period? Sorry if I'm being dense I always thought you had to work at a place for a while before you were able to keep the money they added. :)

It might vary from place to place not sure. But the company I worked for that had a 403b made a contribution and as soon as it was in the account it was yours. No matter how long you stayed. If I remember correctly they didn't match until 3-6 months after hire. But after that it was mine to keep.

When I worked for the state university I lost the employer contribution into the retirement fund since I wasn't vested.

Pension. You are almost 50. Why are you so worried about tuition reimbursement? I don't get that. So, say you want to go for your BSN, calculate how much that will cost. It really should not cost a whole lot. The pension is worth it's weight in gold these days. Very few people offer those. With you being almost 50, you should not invest aggressively in the market. So a 403B plan is not going to make you a whole lot over the next say 15 years. It's totally different if you are say 25. At 25, a person can aggressively invest and make more than maybe a pension would pay. At this stage of the game, you need stability.

Let me tell you, one set of my grandparents had a good amount of money saved. Then my grandfather decided to retire and invest in the stock market in some aggressive stocks thinking he would double his money or triple it. They lost it all. Everything they had worked for in their lives gone. It was sad. They had always spoiled me when I was young and did so many fun things with their money. They actually moved from their house, bought another and had it set on the side of a mountain on a huge lot of land they had bought. Then they lost it all and really, had to change their living. It affected everything. Do the pension.

A defined pension benefit is not the same thing as a 401, 403. Most of the defined pensions are in the public sector. You must know how long it takes to be vested. Vesting lengths have recently increased in many places and can be up to 15 or 20 years. At 50, I would be thinking about retirement options.