re: What to do with a small retirement pension.

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Would get 1k a month starting in 25 years.
not this. I’d take the 30k and manage it myself.

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My math and assumptions need to be checked, but I would think about it like this: 30k now or 12k a year in 25 years? I use the 4% assumption quite a lot, ignoring the current lower interest rate bias to address the hypothetical question. That means you'll have $1200 of income (4% of 30k) now vs $12000 income (1k a month) in 25 years. So another way of phrasing the question is would you think an IRA could be used to grow that 30k by ten times in 25 years? Many projections show SP500 growth of 5 to 7% over the next 10 years. So assuming 6% growth your 30k would double every 12 years (rule of 72). In 24 years at the same rate your 30k invested in the SP500 in an IRA would be a little over $120k. That would only earn you $4800 a year in income. I'd go with the state retirement plan if the 1k a month in 25 years is real.

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