PBGC protects pensions. So, what is a pension? To most people, a pension is a retirement arrangement in which your employer promises you a regular payment from the day you retire, for as long as you live. The amount of your pension usually depends on how long you worked for an employer and your salary with that employer. Ask a retiree, "What is a pension?" and they may say,
"A pension is the $400 per month I receive for my many years of service at Acme Widgets. My pension helps to supplement the $600 per month I receive from Social Security and my retirement savings."
Normally, employees must work for an employer for a certain time period before the benefits they have earned belong to them. After they have done so, they are considered "vested" in those benefits. Today, in some pension plans, you are fully vested after five years on the job. In others, it takes you seven years to become fully vested - but you become vested in increasing portions of your benefit starting at three years. If you've worked for more than one company long enough to become vested in multiple pension plans, you can receive more than one pension payment.
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So far, in fiscal year 2013, PBGC has surveyed around 10,000 folks, but what does it mean?
When PBGC comes into someone's life, it may be at a time when everything is broken. Customers have lost jobs, insurance, promise of a comfortable retirement. Death, disease, and disability may bring these trials to a crisis. While the Corporation can't solve every customer's every problem, it can provide compassionate and responsive service to those who may feel cheated, abused, or simply discarded by the trusted employer who terminated a promised pension.
PBGC can and does measure how many benefit determinations we send out and how fast we issue benefit estimates, which is just part of the story. We won't know about our success in providing information through online sources and by delivering checks, until we hear from the person on the other end. Was it on time by your definition? Was it what you needed? Did we help you understand?
When you tell us the truth, you reveal the opportunities for a process that flows well and makes sense, a graphic that makes a complicated matter clear, a few words that provide assurance and restore a little bit of faith in humanity.
PBGC welcomes your feedback, your questions, and especially your ideas on how we can all work together to make those moments of beauty a more frequent reality for you the customer.
Renting a new apartment? Buying a house? Applying for benefits from a government agency? If so, someone may ask you to prove your income.
If you get a retirement benefit from PBGC, we'll be happy to verify the amount you receive. Mail us your request in writing, and we'll send income verification to you or a third party (like a landlord or mortgage company).
To protect your privacy, we have to be sure you authorize us to send out this information. So you or the third party will have to follow a few simple steps. You can find complete instructions on our Income Verification Procedures webpage.
If you are new to the PBGC family, we know you have a lot of questions. Even if you've been with us for a while, changes in your life or something you hear in the latest news may raise more questions.
Chances are, if you're wondering about it, someone else is, too. That's why we keep an extensive list of FAQs (frequently asked questions) on our website.
From benefit payment options to PBGC's financial condition, we've got it covered. Just click on the link above to see it now.
For future reference, look for the FAQs in the top menu on the main page of PBGC.gov. And, if you are new to PBGC, check out "New to PBGC", a page designed especially for you.
Still have questions? We're just a phone call or email away.
If you receive a retirement benefit from PBGC, all or some of the money may be taxable. Every year, we report this amount to the IRS and send you an IRS Form 1099-R that states the amount we paid you the previous year.
We'll mail your Form 1099-R for 2012 to your address of record by Thursday, January 31, 2013. If you don't receive your form soon after January 31, 2013, you may use the options below to request a duplicate 1099-R, as early as February 1.
- Use our online service, MyPBA, to view and print a copy of your 1099-R tax form for the most recent tax year.
OR
- Call PBGC's Customer Contact Center to request a form by mail. The number is 1-800-400-7242.
Before you call, please have your Social Security number, plan name and case number ready for the customer service representative.
One of the most important ways PBGC protects retirement security is by working to preserve pensions, not just waiting until they fail. New Chief of Negotiations and Restructuring Sanford "Sandy" Rich will lead that effort.
Rich was selected to lead this department because he knows the inner workings of distressed trading, corporate restructuring, and investment banking; he has more than two decades of experience in the industry.
Now that we've given you a snippet of information about Sandy, allow him to introduce himself.
Check out his introductory video on YouTube.
