The first step in this process is to take stock of what you have right now. You may have any number of accounts with banks, former employers, insurance companies and more; now it’s time to track them all down and make a list of them. If your records are up to date, this will be easy. But if they happen to be old, incomplete or apparently lost, finding the documentation may involve some detective work, so be prepared to devote time and effort when you start this project. Here are some of the possible methods you can use to find lost or misplaced assets.
Life Insurance
You vaguely remember purchasing a policy for yourself in the past, but you can’t seem to locate any paperwork for it. All is not lost: If you remember the name of your carrier, an internet search followed by either a phone call or online inquiry should quickly get you a replacement copy of your policy. If it is permanent life insurance, find out how much cash value is in the policy (term life insurance generally doesn’t accrue a cash value; see Intro to Insurance: Types of Life Insurance to learn more). Also inquire as to the amount of the death benefit, whether the policy is still in force and, if it has lapsed, whether it can be reinstated – provided you pay whatever premium is due.
If a relative purchased life insurance when you were a child, naming you as the beneficiary, and the paperwork that he or she gave you when you graduated from high school has long since disappeared, then a polite inquiry may be necessary. If you are simply unable to recall the company that holds the policy, you can use a search service. For a fee, this site will search through a vast database of insurance policies in just a few minutes. There are billions of dollars of unclaimed death benefits waiting for their beneficiaries to collect them.
Savings Bonds
Locating your savings bonds is now easier than ever. Instead of spending hours and days rifling through files and paperwork, simply log on to www.treasurydirect.gov and go to the section labeled “Individuals” to do a search. The site will tell you what bonds you own, whether they have matured and also whether they are still paying any interest. If you still have paper bonds lying around, take them to the bank to either cash them (if they have matured) or convert them to electronic form, which is, by far, the most convenient way to own this investment.
Financial and Retirement Accounts
There are several different methods you can use to find lost IRAs or other retirement plan accounts. The easiest way is to simply locate the custodian of your account and make a telephone or online inquiry. However, that company may no longer exist due to a merger, takeover or rebranding. In that case, you will need to do a little research to find out what happened and contact the present corporate form of that custodian, which should still have your records.
If you don’t have an old statement handy, try looking at old tax returns to see if the custodian is listed anywhere. If you took any type of distribution, then there should be a copy of form 1099-R, which lists the custodian as well as the account number. If you only made contributions, you might get lucky and discover information about the custodian – perhaps on one of the worksheets in the return or somewhere in your notes.
If all else fails, try contacting the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA). This conglomeration of state unclaimed-asset administrators holds hundreds of millions of dollars of unclaimed assets, including uncashed checks, IRAs and retirement plans, brokerage and investment accounts, stocks, bonds and utility deposits. Much of this has been turned over to it by financial institutions that are required to do so when they are unable to locate the rightful owners of those accounts or assets after a certain period of time. Log onto the NAUPA website (www.unclaimed.org), choose the state or states in which you believe your accounts or other property were opened or located, and do a free search.
Bank Accounts and Safe Deposit Boxes
Although you might be able to find any lost bank accounts or other assets by contacting NAUPA, you will not find them there if the bank where you held those accounts has become insolvent. If that happened, then the assets were turned over to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for safekeeping, and you will have to contact the FDIC at www.fdic.gov to make an inquiry.
Pensions
If you know that you are entitled to receive payments from a defined benefit account you had through a previous employer, but you either lost the information about the plan or the employer became insolvent, you will need to contact the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) at www.pbgc.gov and provide your information. Of course, you will not be eligible to receive any of that money now, but it can still be paid to you at retirement. Besides, the point right now is to locate and list your assets, not use them.
Social Security Records
The Social Security Administration (SSA) calculates your Social Security retirement benefits based on your annual wages (see Introduction to Social Security to learn more). It’s therefore important to contact the SSA to see if you have any unclaimed wages that have not been factored in. Believe it or not, the SSA has hundreds of billions of dollars in unclaimed wages that need to be included in benefit calculations!
Make Your List
After you have finished locating your assets, make a detailed list of everything you have found and add your current assets. Include names, values, custodians, carriers, account and policy numbers and the contact information of all the people and/or institutions who hold these items. Once your list is done, you are ready for the next step. (If you are not retiring from the military, you can skip this next section and move on to Chapter 3.)
Retiring From the Military?
If you are just finishing up your career in the military, you have a somewhat different set of issues to contend with than civilian pre-retirees. Although you will more than likely work in either the private or governmental sector for some time before you truly stop working, careful attention to these issues now can make a huge difference in how you retire later.
A good place to start in the preparation process is with the U.S. Army’s Soldier for Life - Transition Assistance Program, which will help you translate your military skills and experience into civilian language. It will also help you create a resume and teach you job-search and interview skills, as well as create a transitional budget that breaks down how your monthly cash flow will change after you separate from service. G.I. Jobs can help you to calculate what your current military pay would be equivalent to in the private sector so that you have some idea of where to begin negotiating a salary.
You will have to decide what to do with your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account, and, if you are married, you should do a pension maximization analysis to determine whether you should keep or waive the survivor benefit rider on your pension income. If your earnings from your next job combined with your pension put you above the allowable income threshold for Roth IRA contributions, you can still make “backdoor” contributions to a Roth IRA by contributing to a traditional nondeductible IRA and then converting that contribution to a Roth account. This loophole has existed since 2010 when Congress eliminated the income limits for Roth conversions. However, special rules apply if you use this strategy and have other traditional IRAs that were funded with deductible contributions. For more information on this topic see How Can I Fund a Roth IRA If My Income Is Too High to Make Direct Contributions? and Is a Backdoor Roth IRA Suitable for You?
Neil Buono
SafeGuard Investments
11204 Clayridge Dr
Tampa, FL 33635
813-495-8550 office
813-441-6850 fax
941-544-8546 cell
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