Lockheed Martin pension buyout history
Lockheed Martin has offered lump sum windows to former employees and transferred billions in pension obligations to Athene. The timeline and what it means.
Timeline
2012
Lockheed Martin offered a lump sum option to certain former employees with vested pension benefits, an early example of the deferred-vested buyout window.
2021
Lockheed Martin purchased group annuity contracts from Athene transferring approximately $4.9 billion of pension obligations.
2022
A further Athene transaction reduced Lockheed Martin's gross pension obligations by approximately $4.3 billion.
What this means for you
Lockheed Martin has used the full de-risking toolkit over the past decade: benefit freezes, lump sum windows for former employees, and repeated group annuity purchases with Athene. Participants covered by the Athene contracts receive unchanged benefits from Athene, backed by state guaranty associations rather than the PBGC.
If you are a participant and receive a new offer letter, the analysis is the same as for any buyout: request the calculation worksheet, run the numbers in our calculator, and work through the 12 questions before the deadline. Declining always leaves your benefit in place.
Sources
Deciding on a Lockheed Martin pension offer?
Run the exact numbers from your offer letter, then get an independent second opinion before the window closes.