Potential Private Retirement Benefit Info

[street]

So today I got this letter from SS Adm. and this letter is about a 401K I still have and have not taken any money from this 401K. Can someone explain to me what this means and is there anything I need to do? I'm a lttle confused with what they are trying to tell me. I did enroll for SS which I will get my first check in February.
Here is what the letter stated minus the Financial Institution and of coarse the amount. Sorry but I can't get it to rotate.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=29966&stc=1&d=1543023659

 

[Scrapr]

it means you have money. Call the Plan Administrator to collect it.

they reported it to the Social Security office (IRS) when you earned the benefit

SS is just trying to make sure you know about this. I imagine a small pension from long ago may have been overlooked by FRA. I worked a couple years as a Teamster. They cashed me out about 10 years after I quit working for the Teamsters. If they had not cashed me out it would have been nice to know that I had $22.37/mo available to me

 

[street]

^ thanks for your help. This is a 401K that is large it was with a company that I worked 35 years for that had a 401K plan. I retired in 2016 and haven't contributed to that since I retired.

So you think there still isn't any concerns about the letter? I know about the 401K and have contact with this company not that long ago. I had a few questions for them. I don't plan on taking any of this money till RMD time.

 

[REWahoo]

So you think there still isn't any concerns about the letter? I know about the 401K and have contact with this company not that long ago. I had a few questions for them. I don't plan on taking any of this money till RMD time.

So the money is still in the company 401k, you haven't rolled it over to your own IRA?

 

[street]

^that is correct. I haven't done anything with it just left it.

 

[REWahoo]

^that is correct. I haven't done anything with it just left it.

I'm sure that's why you got the letter from SS, to make sure you didn't forget you had it!

 

[street]

Great! That was the way it sounded but then again I wasn't sure. LOL I most likely won't do anything with it, no need to call the Financial Company about it like the letter said, if I had any questions. I was told I could like it in a 401K till I did RMD.


Thank you very much!

 

[Uncle Lumpy]

I believe I would contact the Social Security Administration (but don't use any number you find on the letter--call 1-800-772-1213, the toll free SSA number) to determine the authenticity of the letter. I'm pretty familiar with the SSA data systems (worked there some time ago) and find it hard to believe that they actually track something like "money in private retirement accounts." Very hard to believe.


Best,
Lumpy

 

[street]

^ really now that is something else to worry about. LOL

I thank you very much for that SSA # and your great advise and will call on Monday.

 

[powerplay]

I've seen a very similar letter to my aunt after my uncle died informing her she may be entitled to benefits from one of the small pensions my uncle had. I'd be pretty sure the letter is actually from SS, but it can't hurt to call them and verify.

 

[bada bing]

Anyone else find it slightly disturbing that SS is tracking private retirement account ownership ?

 

[Bamaman]

You can get a printout from the IRS about your last year's reported earnings, interest earned and any investment accounts. I get one every year to make sure I didn't miss something as I do my own taxes.

It always has the year end balance total of your 401K's or IRA Rollover accounts.

I assumed it was required that ex-employers notify you that the funds need to be withdrawn and taken elsewhere as an IRA Rollover account. You wouldn't want to touch the funds, but have a transfer to another financial institution. Chances are you can also leave it where the funds are and just setup another account with a new account number too.

 

[street]

Thanks for your experiences and advise. I knowledge here on this site is second to none.

 

[Sunset]

Anyone else find it slightly disturbing that SS is tracking private retirement account ownership ?

No, actually really glad they do.
I imagine some private individual working at an insurance company managing some folks 401K. When the person dies, and nobody claims the money...... it means they don't know about it.

So perfect for the 401K manager to steal.

 

[Sunset]

Great! That was the way it sounded but then again I wasn't sure. LOL I most likely won't do anything with it, no need to call the Financial Company about it like the letter said, if I had any questions. I was told I could like it in a 401K till I did RMD.
...

I guess your 401K must be very very stellar with super low fees as the reason you leave it in there.

Do you know about the tax torpedo when you are required to take RMD's ?

 

[omni550]

Street,

I worked for Company A for my first 15 years of employment right after college. I then moved on to work at two other large companies (for 2 years and 16.5 years) for the balance of my career.

Company A merged with Company B, and that entity (Company AB) was later assimilated by a third company (Company C).

As I did not want to risk losing my pension rights with Company A, I contacted Company C about 10 years after leaving Company A, letting them know of my service with Company A and my then-current address and asking about the amount of my pension and when it would be payable. Company C confirmed that I was still in their system, and provided the amount of my pension and when it would start.

I received a similar letter to the one you included in post #1 from Social Security when I was turning 62, basically informing me that I was due pension money from an earlier employer (Company A which was now Company C).

I was a bit surprised get such a letter from SS, but was glad to know that SS keeps tabs on this for people who either 1) might have forgotten (or were unaware) that they had accrued a pension at a former employer or 2) had moved/changed addresses/changed names so that a former employer might not have been able to inform them of funds due to them.

omni

 

[Alan]

No, actually really glad they do.
I imagine some private individual working at an insurance company managing some folks 401K. When the person dies, and nobody claims the money...... it means they don't know about it.

So perfect for the 401K manager to steal.

Exactly.

I expect that there are billions of $ in forgotten accounts such as old pension pots. Back in 1973 my wife’s summer job when she left High School was working with Manchester City Council with a small group tracking down ex employees or their beneficiaries to inform them of forgotten pensions.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/brits-sitting-12-billion-forgotten-9814732

 

[gauss]

edit: I found this description of the notice at the Department of Labor (DOL) site. https://www.dol.gov/sites/default/f...ential-private-benefit-information-notice.pdf

The notice mentions 401ks in the context of this letter, so my speculation below may be incorrect.

---
I suspect that you may have received this letter in error.
(Perhaps the tax information submitted by the 401k plan to the IRS was not 100% correct.)

The reason that I say this is that this letter appears to be intended for those entitled to "deferred vested pension benefits".

This term normally refers to Defined Benefit (DB) pension plans where someone has earned some monthly benefit, typically small, before their employment was terminated prior to being eligible for retirement.

Your 401k K is a Defined Contribution (DC) plan, not a DB plan. It would be much easier for someone to forget about a small monthly DB benefit, especially if they didn't realize that they qualify for it, than a (DC)/401k plan with a large cash balance.

The full SSN form SSA-L99-C1 appears below:
https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0103270015

If the form was not sent in error, is it possible that in addition to your 401k that you have some type of monthly pension available from this employer?


-gauss

 

[REWahoo]

If the form was not sent in error, is it possible that in addition to your 401k that you have some type of monthly pension available from this employer?


-gauss

I was about to respond with the same question when I saw your edit above.

Street definitely needs to contact this former employer to inquire as to why he got this notice from SS.

 

[Alan]

I was about to respond with the same question when I saw your edit above.

Street definitely needs to contact this former employer to inquire as to why he got this notice from SS.

I see absolutely no negatives behind this approach regardless of any suspicious thoughts behind the motivation of the letter.

 

[iloveyoga]

Your company was required to report this information, this has been going on for many years.

 

[street]

edit: I found this description of the notice at the Department of Labor (DOL) site. https://www.dol.gov/sites/default/f...ential-private-benefit-information-notice.pdf

The notice mentions 401ks in the context of this letter, so my speculation below may be incorrect.

---
I suspect that you may have received this letter in error.
(Perhaps the tax information submitted by the 401k plan to the IRS was not 100% correct.)

The reason that I say this is that this letter appears to be intended for those entitled to "deferred vested pension benefits".

This term normally refers to Defined Benefit (DB) pension plans where someone has earned some monthly benefit, typically small, before their employment was terminated prior to being eligible for retirement.

Your 401k K is a Defined Contribution (DC) plan, not a DB plan. It would be much easier for someone to forget about a small monthly DB benefit, especially if they didn't realize that they qualify for it, than a (DC)/401k plan with a large cash balance.

The full SSN form SSA-L99-C1 appears below:
https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0103270015

If the form was not sent in error, is it possible that in addition to your 401k that you have some type of monthly pension available from this employer?


-gauss

That form you have posted (https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0103270015
[/B][/U])
is exactly what I received, word for word with personal data filled in.

To the question brought up that I might have additional benefits from this company, I DO. The money isn't with this financial group but with a different one and it is an IRA.


I also know about the RMD tax when that time comes. I most likely will take it at RMD time or when I get past 65 for HI reasons. I will be tax poor someday, my tax man said what ever I do I mostly likely will be in the high tax bracket regardless of which way I do it. Who knows tax laws may change and be worse or be better for the retiree.


Thank you again for the excellent advise. I'm a lot less concerned about the letter now, then when I first read it. I was very confused why SSA would be telling me of a pension that I had with all my personal info and correct amounts etc..

 

[target2019]

If a company had a pension plan, it sounds like SSA has access to that fact.
If you worked for that company, SSA has that data. What they are doing is sending you an alert that you may be eligible for a pension payment. May be.
I joined a company that froze their pension before I arrived. Maybe I will get such a letter, we shall see. But I guess No letter.

 

[donheff]

You can get a printout from the IRS about your last year's reported earnings, interest earned and any investment accounts. I get one every year to make sure I didn't miss something as I do my own taxes.

It always has the year end balance total of your 401K's or IRA Rollover accounts.

How do you do this? Is this something you can do online or does it require a letter?

 

[gauss]

^
An IRS Tax Transcript -- Bamaman is talking about, in particular, a 'wage and income' transcript.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/tax-return-transcript-types-and-ways-to-order-them

They are available via multiple channels (online, mail, and I believe telephone). See the link for further details.

-gauss