"Anoop Ghanwani" <anoop[at]alumni.duke.edu> wrote in message
news:50bde0e6.0401141918.572228d6[at]posting.google.com...
- quote -

When a plan sponsor is nonresponsive, or a rollover has been delayed for
more than 90 days, this is a good idea. It used to be called the Pension and
Welfare Benefits Administration, but now they are called the Employee
Benefits Security Administration. I've called them a couple of times to
light a fire under non-responsive employers, with great success. They are a
last resort, because I don't want to cause anyone any trouble, but if a
client's money isn't forthcoming, and I'm not even getting returned phone
calls, I call the pension Roto Rooter!

Prudent employers do NOT want to have the EBSA come and perform an audit,
especially if they aren't compliant with current rules and regulations (this
is VERY common!).

Brent D. Gardner, ChFC
Chartered Financial Consultant
http://members.cox.net/brentdgardner1378/

"Be ever questioning. Ignorance is not bliss. It is oblivion. You don't go
to heaven if you die dumb. Become better informed. Learn from other's
mistakes. You could not live long enough to make them all yourself." - Hyman
George Rickover (1900-86), Admiral, US Navy, advocated development of
nuclear subs & ships

The Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant
(ChFC), designations owned and exclusively offered by The American College,
signify the highest standards of academic study and professional excellence
in the financial services industry.

- quote -

I'm in exactly the same boat. My funds have been in limbo since Nov 6.
The financial service company sent a check to the plan administrator
(previous company) who claims they sent it to me but I didn't receive it.
At the same time, they didn't request another check until day before
yesterday even though I had told them about not getting the check over a
month ago. Now the check they sent has been made to the IRA custodian but
with no FBO stated on it, so the plan administrator says he'll request
another check tomorrow!

I doubt there's much that can be done except possibly getting the
Dept. of Labor involved if things don't move fairly quickly from
now on.

Anoop

"Brent D. Gardner, ChFC" <bgardner20[at]cox.net> wrote in message
news:wmjNb.1450$ii6.575[at]okepread05...
- quote -

An alternate suggestion is to have the IRA Rollover company request the
funds. I have done a couple of these, through Vanguard as the receiver and 2
different companies as the senders. The transfers were quick and seamless.
I would expect the same to be true from most other mutual fund companies.

Elizabeth Richardson

"Brian" <bmoor[at]engineer.com> wrote in message
news:e359debb.0401141247.1ecd4373[at]posting.google.com...
- quote -

Sometimes, checks come back with mandatory withholding taken out. You don't
want those checks. Send them back. Holiday season is a HECTIC time for any
financial service company, compounded by vacation times that may have been
scheduled many weeks and months in advance. This cannot be helped.
Distributions often take a back seat to year end responsibilities of plan
administrators and sponsors.

Opportunity cost is an interesting case, but rarely a fruitful one, unless
you can prove they were negligent. Rollovers taking 30 to 90 days are not
uncommon. I've seen some take 18 months -- and that was an INTERNAL rollover
where the custodian was the same company!

What I suggest to everyone is DOCUMENT EVERYTHING, including dates of every
phone call, who you spoke with, what they said or promised, etc.

If a check has been in the mail for a month, I'd ask for a duplicate check.
They can stop payment, at their expense.

Every once in a while, this is how thieves are caught.

Brent D. Gardner, ChFC
Chartered Financial Consultant
http://members.cox.net/brentdgardner1378/

"Be ever questioning. Ignorance is not bliss. It is oblivion. You don't go
to heaven if you die dumb. Become better informed. Learn from other's
mistakes. You could not live long enough to make them all yourself." - Hyman
George Rickover (1900-86), Admiral, US Navy, advocated development of
nuclear subs & ships

The Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant
(ChFC), designations owned and exclusively offered by The American College,
signify the highest standards of academic study and professional excellence
in the financial services industry.

I have a question about a 401k Rollover that I hope someone can help me with
or point me in the correct direction. Are there any regulations regarding
how long a 401k custodian has from the time funds are distributed from a
participant's 401k plan to the time the Rollover IRA custodian receives
them? If not, what is the usual and customary time this should take?

Here is the situation:

10/31: My wife was terminated from her job.
11/7: Received 401k Rollover forms her previous employer.
11/15: Opened Rollover IRA with another custodian, and returned 401k
Rollover instructions to her previous employer.
12/2: Online system indicates that 401k funds were distributed.
1/14: The funds still have not arrived at the Rollover IRA custodian.

Between Christmas and New Year's, we contacted the 401k administrator at her
previous employer. She indicated that something was "messed up" with the
checks she received, and she was sending them back to the 401k custodian do
"do it the correct way". So, there were evidently some delays introduced
due to human error. It also seems as though the rollover process is two
steps and goes like this:

1) 401k Custodian sends funds to 401k plan administrator at her previous
employer.
2) 401k plan administrator then sends checks to Rollover IRA custodian.

Does anyone know regulations on how long this process should take or what is
usual and customary? In my opinion, as soon as funds were distributed, they
should have arrived at the Rollover IRA custodian within a week. The
problem here is that since 12/2, the funds have been in limbo and not
invested, and as a result, we have lost approximately $1,000 in potential
investment returns. I just wanted to get some other opinions...

Thanks in advance for any replies!