What can I expect from my BP benefits during retirement?
BP’s retirement income benefits
BP offers comprehensive retirement benefits that can help provide you with financial security in retirement, including the Retirement Accumulation Plan (pension plan), and if you participated — the Employee Savings Plan. Combined, these plans can provide substantial income during your retirement years.
BP Retirement Accumulation Plan (RAP)
The BP Retirement Accumulation Plan is a cash-balance pension plan that is solely funded by BP. This plan allows your retirement benefit to grow steadily over your career at BP through pay credits and interest credits. Your pay credits are determined by your eligible pay, years of service and/or age.
BP Retirement Services at Fidelity keeps track of your notional account balance and you can view your balance online at any time. As you consider your sources of retirement income, be sure to use BP Retirement Services at Fidelity to model what your benefit payment will be at the time you choose to retire.
BP Employee Savings Plan (ESP)
Participating in the Employee Savings Plan is completely voluntary, and you decide whether to contribute, how much to contribute and how to invest your contributions. You may contribute a percentage of your eligible pay — on a before-tax, after-tax or Roth 401(k) basis, subject to plan and annual IRS limits. BP matches a portion of your contributions — $1 for $1 — up to 7% of eligible pay, per pay period.
You are always 100% vested (meaning you have a permanent right to the money) in your own contributions, and you are 100% vested in BP’s matching contributions after three years of service. BP Retirement Services at Fidelity can help you enroll in the plan at any time, or if you are already participating, they can help you with any transactions in your account.
BP’s health and protection benefits
Health benefits
As with your retirement income plans, you need to plan for retiree medical coverage. BP offers a retiree medical program with prescription drug coverage that can help alleviate some of the cost. If you were enrolled while you were employed, you will have access to dental, vision and health care spending account continuation through COBRA coverage for up to 18 months.
Please keep in mind that there are certain benefits that will no longer be available after you leave BP, including:
- Dependent care spending account.
- Short-term disability.
- Long-term disability.
- Accidental death & dismemberment (AD&D).
- Occupational accidental death (OAD).
Protection benefits
An important consideration for retirement is making sure we take care of ourselves in the event of an accident or illness and we take care of our loved ones in the event of our death.
After leaving BP, you’ll have access to these protection benefits:
- Long-term care coverage. This benefit is portable, which means you and your eligible family members can continue coverage at the same premium rates.
- Group Universal Life (GUL) coverage. This benefit is portable, which means your and your spouse's coverage may continue provided you continue to pay premiums.
- Basic life insurance. You may convert your basic life coverage to an individual policy.
When you begin to think about retirement, there are some important things you will need to consider regarding your health and protection benefits.
First, you need to check the eligibility requirements for the BP Retiree Medical Plan offered after you leave BP. You also need to consider the cost for each benefit because some costs may increase for retiree coverage.
So, before you decide to retire, contact the BP Benefits Center. They can assist you with understanding your eligibility and options for health and protection benefits along with coverage costs.