The GE Pension Plan stopped taking new participants in 2012, and benefits for about 20,000 salaried employees froze on January 1, 2021.
Where the General Electric pension stands
The GE Pension Plan has been closed to new participants since 2012. In October 2019 GE announced that benefits for about 20,000 salaried employees would be frozen effective January 1, 2021, with those employees getting larger company contributions to the defined contribution plan instead. About 700 employees who became executives before 2011 had their supplementary annuity benefit frozen on the same date and moved to an installment benefit.
Lump sums and insurer transfers
In October 2019 GE offered about 100,000 former U.S. employees with vested pensions a limited-time choice to take a lump sum instead of future monthly payments, paid from the GE Pension Trust in December 2019.
What a lump sum is worth in 2026
When a private plan pays a lump sum, it can't be smaller than the IRS 417(e) present value. Plans that use November rates for 2026 apply the November 2025 segment rates: 4.07% for payments in years 1 to 5, 5.15% for years 6 to 20 and 6.01% after that, with the IRS 2026 mortality table from Notice 2025-40. On those inputs, a $3,000 monthly benefit starting at 65 has a minimum lump sum of about $442,500. Your plan's lookback month can differ, so check your Summary Plan Description, and run your own benefit through the lump sum calculator.
PBGC coverage
Benefits still in a private single-employer plan are insured by the PBGC. For a plan that terminates in 2026, PBGC guarantees up to $7,789.77 a month for a straight-life annuity starting at 65, less for earlier starts or survivor forms. Benefits moved to an insurer leave the PBGC system and rely on the insurer and state guaranty associations instead.
Social Security
General Electric jobs paid into Social Security, so the Windfall Elimination Provision never applied to these pensions, and WEP was repealed anyway for benefits payable after December 2023. If the pension covers your basic expenses, delaying Social Security toward 70 raises the one income source that adjusts for inflation. Model it with the Social Security calculator.
The General Electric employer page lists the filings behind every date and dollar figure here.