Help on a Pension Question.

[RagAss]

I worked for a company from 1980 until 1995. The company had a traditional pension plan during my time there. Now that I am a few years away from retirement, I called them last week and after almost an hour was able to speak with someone and request a pension estimate. They told me it would take 4 to 6 weeks and they would mail it to me.

My question is ...Is this a normal waiting period for something like an estimate? They acted as if it was a a big bother and I did not feel comfortable talking with the agent on the phone.

Also, who would I turn to(what agency) if I sense a complete lack of cooperation in the future?

Needless to say, I am paranoid about companies honoring pensions and I would never have stayed in that shithole for 15 years if a traditional pension was not part of my employment package.

Any help is appreciated, DU.

Thanks....

[safeinOhio]

1. You can start here

http://www.pensionhelp.org/

[RagAss]

2. Thank You !

[RB TexLa]

3. It's very doubtful the company you worked for manages the pension plan

they will have to go back through their records and then get the information to the company that does run the fund to get your estimate. If you have not worked there since 1995 even with computers your information could take some time to access both from the company and the fund management company. Also I'd bet you get the information quicker than the 6 to 4 weeks. Most time frames given are purposely longer than the average time it takes, I'm sure you'd rather be told it will be 6 weeks and get it in 3 than be told you'll get it in a couple of days and have to wait 3 weeks.

[skeptical cynic]

4. I wouldn't worry

Four to six weeks to process anything related to a retirement plan is pretty typical.

But keep good notes about who you speak to and when you speak to them.

The good news is, they didn't respond, "Pension plan? What pension plan?"

[iamjoy]

5. Consider The Source

Your former employer may well have outsourced (if not off-shored) Benefits administration and recordkeeping. That means when you call about your benefits, you could be speaking with a Customer Service Representative who makes around $20k a year and is given the bare minimum training the company feels they can get away with providing. This CSR probably doesn't get a Pension, either. If this third party administrator took over the recordkeeping any time in the past 15 years, your former employer may not have provided all of the information needed and the current administrator can't easily locate your record/history. Customer Service probably gets LOTS of inquiries from people who aren't entitled to Pensions, but think they are. So, they are sometimes wary because they don't want to give the impression they are making any promises.

If you have any documentation referencing your Pension, you may want to find that - sometimes faxing or mailing a copy will help. If you spoke with one person who wasn't helpful, call back and ask for a supervisor.