Retirement advice gets repeated so often that pieces of it turn into myth, and an employee at Coca-Cola who leans on the wrong version can make a costly call about a pension, Social Security, or a 401(k) rollover.

The six items below cover what the public rules actually say for 2026; the Coca-Cola-specific section further down adds what Coca-Cola's own plan filings show.

Myth #1: once you have a pension, there is nothing left to decide

An employee at Coca-Cola with a traditional, defined-benefit pension generally still has choices to make: most plans pay a monthly annuity for life by default, and some also allow a single lump sum that can be rolled into an IRA.

A married participant who wants anything other than the plan's standard joint-and-survivor annuity generally needs written consent from a spouse. That consent must be witnessed by a plan representative or a notary before the plan will pay a different form, such as a single-life annuity or a lump sum.

Lump-sum amounts are not fixed numbers. Plans must use the interest rates set under Internal Revenue Code section 417(e), published monthly by the IRS, and a lower rate in effect on the calculation date generally produces a larger lump sum, while a higher rate produces a smaller one.

Other income sources, health, and what a spouse would need after the participant's death all factor into the decision, and a plan's written benefit illustration is worth reading closely before signing anything.

Myth #2: a pension or 401(k) makes Social Security less important

For most retirees, Social Security remains a core, inflation-adjusted income source, and the age at which someone claims it changes the monthly amount for the rest of their life.

Full retirement age is 66 and a rising number of months for people born from 1955 through 1959. It is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. Claiming at 62 locks in a permanently reduced benefit for life, equal to about 70% of the full amount for someone whose full retirement age is 67.

Waiting past full retirement age instead adds delayed retirement credits of 8% a year, up to age 70. A person with a full retirement age of 67 who waits until 70 receives about 124% of the full benefit, instead of 70% at 62.

Social Security benefits rose 2.8% for 2026. Anyone who works while collecting before reaching full retirement age is also subject to the 2026 earnings test. SSA withholds $1 for every $2 earned over $24,480 for a person under full retirement age all year, or $1 for every $3 earned over $65,160 in the months before reaching full retirement age in the year that happens.

Myth #3: the exact date you retire from Coca-Cola does not change much

Years of service and pay history generally shape a traditional pension formula, so retiring earlier or later changes both numbers used in the calculation, not just the paycheck.

Because lump-sum values move with the 417(e) segment rates in effect on the calculation date, the same pension benefit can convert into a noticeably different lump-sum dollar amount depending on the month a person actually retires.

Plan terms are not permanent, either. A plan sponsor can amend a pension or 401(k) plan's formula, eligibility rules, or distribution options for future accruals, so the version an employee at Coca-Cola read about years ago may not be the version in effect at retirement.

Myth #4: holding company stock in a 401(k) is no different from any other fund

Putting 401(k) contributions into company stock concentrates risk differently than a diversified fund does, because it ties both a paycheck and a retirement account to the results of the same employer.

If company stock sits in a 401(k) and is distributed as part of a lump sum instead of being rolled over, a separate tax rule for net unrealized appreciation can apply. The stock's appreciation since purchase is not taxed as ordinary income at distribution; it is instead taxed at capital-gains rates when the shares are later sold.

This is not a statement that Coca-Cola stock is or is not a good investment, and nobody has to sell existing shares to understand the rule. It is a tax mechanic worth knowing before deciding what to do with a 401(k) balance that includes employer stock.

Myth #5: rolling a 401(k) into an IRA is automatically the better move

An IRA generally offers a wider menu of investment choices and more control over when you withdraw funds and which provider holds the account, options a former employer's 401(k) plan may not match.

Staying in a former employer's 401(k) can preserve plan-specific advantages instead. One is access to the balance without the 10% early-withdrawal tax if separation happens in or after the year someone turns 55, an exception that does not apply to IRAs.

ERISA's anti-alienation rule also generally keeps those 401(k) assets out of reach of creditors, a safeguard that does not depend on state law, and net unrealized appreciation treatment still applies if company stock stays in the plan.

Assets in an ERISA-qualified 401(k) are generally excluded from a bankruptcy estate with no dollar limit. Traditional and Roth IRA assets instead fall under a separate federal bankruptcy exemption, currently capped at $1,711,975 total per person for cases filed from April 2025 through March 2028; dollars rolled over from a 401(k) generally do not count toward that cap.

On withholding: the mandatory 20% federal withholding applies only to an eligible rollover distribution paid directly to the person leaving Coca-Cola. A direct, trustee-to-trustee rollover to an IRA or another employer's plan is not subject to that withholding at all.

Myth #6: turning 65 and signing up for Medicare means medical costs are handled

Medicare eligibility generally starts at 65, with a 7-month Initial Enrollment Period that opens 3 months before the birthday month and closes 3 months after it.

Someone still covered by a group health plan based on their own or a spouse's current employment is not required to enroll in Part B right away. They can generally delay it without a penalty using a Special Enrollment Period that runs 8 months after that employment or coverage ends, whichever comes first; COBRA and retiree coverage do not extend that window.

Original Medicare does not cover everything. Part B generally pays 80% of the Medicare-approved amount for covered services after the annual deductible, leaving a 20% coinsurance, and the standard 2026 Part B premium is $202.90 a month with a $283 annual deductible, before any income-related adjustment.

A Medigap policy, a Medicare Advantage plan, and Part D drug coverage are the three main ways people fill the gaps Original Medicare leaves, and each carries its own enrollment timing to check.

What does the Coca-Cola pension actually pay, and does it include a lump sum?

Myth #1 plays out at Coca-Cola in a specific way worth checking against the plan's own terms. The Coca-Cola Company Pension Plan runs a two-part formula: a final-average-pay piece with service frozen at the end of 2009 and pay frozen at the end of 2019, plus a cash balance piece that started in 2010 and has credited pay at a minimum of 5.5% of eligible income each month since July 2022. A participant can choose among five payment methods, including a 50%, 75% or 100% joint and survivor annuity or a single lump sum cash payment. In 2023 the plan paid $259 million of lump sums under an amendment that opened that option to all former employees, which triggered a $76 million settlement loss on the books. The cash balance portion itself credits interest at the six-month Treasury bill yield plus 150 basis points, with a 3.80% floor.

Does holding Coca-Cola stock in your 401(k) change anything?

Myth #4 is easy to test against how Coca-Cola's own match actually works. The Coca-Cola Company 401(k) Plan matches 100% of the first 1% of pay a participant contributes plus 50% of the next 5%, for a maximum match of 3.5% of compensation, and that match is initially invested in Coca-Cola common stock, not a diversified fund. Participants can also take an in-service distribution from vested balances once they reach age 59 1/2, or a hardship distribution from certain vested balances, and at retirement, termination or disability the plan pays out as a lump sum, installments or partial payments.