ROCHESTER, N.Y. – More and more people are receiving letters from Social Security saying they may be owed pension or 401(k) money but they can’t find the money.
The letters from Social Security tell people to contact the plan administrators which don’t exist. Then they say contact the federal Department of Labor which, in our experience, doesn’t have the information. But today we learned about one more option people can use to try to find this money.
The letters say “potential private retirement benefit information.” It alerted Bill Oatman that he’s owed more than $8,000 in a 401(k).
“Eight grand. Free money. Works for me,” Oatman said with a smile. “Give it to me.”
The problem is he can’t find it. Neither can Deb North who was told she could get $118 from a pension of the bankrupt shoe company she managed back in the 80s called Altier’s.
Berkeley Brean: “You can’t be the only one.”
Deb North, can’t locate old Altier Shoes pension money: “No, the lady I spoke with in D.C. said there had been four other recent inquiries regarding this retirement plan for salaried employees at Altier’s and Sons.”
The letters tell people to contact the plan administrator. For Bill, that’s a private home in Pittsford. For Deb, it’s the shoe company’s old warehouse in Henrietta. Then they tell them to contact the federal Department of Labor.
Berkeley Brean: “And when you did that, did they have any answers for you?”
Bill Oatman: “No, they basically had all this information that is on here.”
An alert viewer pointed Brean to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation. It’s an option for people who got the letters.
I emailed PBGC with a list of every plan administrator listed on every letter shared with me.
What did they tell me in an email reply? “Contact the Department of Labor’s Office of Public Affairs.”
And then there’s the fact that the federal records might be old and the money was already paid out. The Pension Corporation warns “you may have already received some or all” of the money.”
Bill Oatman: “There’s unfortunately no way to know one way or the other.”
Berkeley Brean: “So it could be a big tease.”
Bill Oatman: “Could be a phantom, yeah. Could be. But for eight grand – why not look?”
Lots of people get these letters. Any time a person files for Social Security, the IRS looks for money they might be owed. If it finds some, it triggers one of these letters.
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The post News10NBC Investigates: ‘Give it to me’: Social Security letter says man owed $8,000 in 401(k) funds, but like others, search hits roadblocks appeared first on WHEC.com.
