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Lately my husband and I have been talking a lot about how much “stuff” we have.  We have so much “stuff” that it’s beginning to get in the way.  Like not being able to find the “stuff” we really want/need at the moment.  Or spending so much time looking for the “stuff” that we don’t get done what we started out to do.  Or that it just looks cluttery with all the “stuff”, and we can’t find places to put everything!!!

Blast From the Past 

We both grew up with parents who lived through the Great Depression, and they were so afraid to be without, that they simply held on to everything.

This is not a bad trait.  In fact, it’s come in handy more than once!!  And, for sure, we are very avid recyclers – not to the point of obsession, just to the point of being responsible. 

So, after our February holiday in New Zealand, we’ve been thinking a lot about what we want our lifestyle to be like, and a mobile lifestyle (one where you don’t own a lot of “stuff”, but you have access to other people’s “stuff” that THEY have to care for) is very attractive.

To achieve this, we have to remind ourselves that WE didn’t grow up with the Great Depression, just with the after effects of the Depression.  And nowadays it is so easy for us to acquire just about anything we want or need that holding on to lots of extra should become a thing of the past.

But then there’s that recycling thing, and the desire to not be wasteful.  I don’t know about you, but I find it very hard to simply throw out something that still has usefulness, or to abandon it without at least trying to find it a good home!!  I keep remembering my sparse youth growing up in a family of 5 kids.

Planning for the Future 

So, now that we’re looking at the next phase of our life (our “retirement” from working and creating the mobile lifestyle that we want), we are actively cleaning up our portfolios and making sure everything is the way it’s supposed to me.

Part of this means making sure our retirement calculations are correct. I have been trying for about 10 years to get my pension plan straightened out, especially the past 2 years.  

Details, Details….. 

First my plan said I owed a substantial amount to shift back into my original plan from a change I had made many years ago.  So I set up that repayment amount.

Then they said I owed an additional amount because of a refund I had supposedly gotten.  So I set up that repayment amount.

Then they said I could “buy” some part time work credit from before the time when I officially became a member.  So I set up that payment amount.

Then I asked about buying some additional time.  They sent me the paperwork.  Just before I sent it back in (and set up that payment plan), I noticed that the last calculation they sent me showed 2 more years than it should have. I pointed that out and asked them to recalculate my service.

Well, yes, I was right and they were wrong.  I didn’t want to get to “graduation” only to find out I still had another 3 units to complete before I could graduate!!

But Wait, There’s More

Then I got the letter saying they had made a mistake and I now owed an additional $17,000 to get that full credit!  Well, that was just before our five week trip to New Zealand.  I didn’t have time to get it straightened out before we left, and a decision had to be made while we were gone, so I set up the minimum amount possible for repayment, which also allowed me to make any necessary changes after we got back.

After we got back from our fantastic trip, I actively pursued getting this corrected. 

It took me several calls (repeating myself over and over) during the next 3 months until I met this lovely person over the phone – Patricia – who promised to get it all straightened out by the end of the week. 

Three weeks later I was tired of waiting and I called again.  When Patricia wasn’t in, I asked to speak to a supervisor.  By this time I was again losing patience.

Luckily Patricia walked into her office while I was on the phone.  She told me she my case was so complex that she had to ask for help from her associates (well, yes, I knew it was complex – I’d been trying to get someone to straighten it out for years). She promised to call me back by the following Tuesday.  I said I would call on Wednesday if I didn’t hear from her.

This time she kept her promise and the following Tuesday I received her call.  The really good news was that most of my service credit should have been taken care of with my initial repayment.  And, because of all the money I had already paid, they actually owed me over $1000.  I received the refund checks yesterday.

Onward and Upward!!

So now was the time to buy that extra time, right?  WELL, maybe.  I wanted to use an old rollover IRA from a job I left 14 years ago in order to take advantage of the tax benefits.  It isn’t huge, but it will take care of 3/5ths of the payment, and pre-tax is always good!!

EXCEPT…since I rolled it from a 401k into a rollover IRA, my pension plan needs certification from not only the current plan administrator, but also from the original administrator!!!  And they won’t accept the pre-tax money unless they have the documentation.

Now, this was a Silicon Valley start-up company that I left in 1992, and was sold in 1999.  The company (as such) didn’t even exist any longer!  And when I rolled my 401k over into the rollover account, I didn’t think I’d ever need that paperwork again.  After all, it was 14 years ago…

When I called the current IRA custodian, they could tell me when I started the account, but had no record of where the money came from (!).  They also said they are only required to keep records for 7 years, and although they keep them for 10, they didn’t have them 14 years back.

Problem Solving 101

It wasn’t my first reaction, but once I got over my upset, I started thinking about how I could find the original plan administrator.  I googled my prior employer’s company name, and found several articles about them.  I was able to discover that they had been sold again a few years ago, so I wrote down the contact info for the new company. 

Then I found the vice-president.  Very cool.  He had written a book, had a new company, a blog, lots of internet presence.  I could contact him and find out who had administered the plan – after all, he and the president had started the company.

So now I got thinking, hmmm, was this a blessing in disguise?  Was it an opportunity to reconnect with an old friend?  I wrote his contact info down so I could call on Friday.

Full Circle…

On the way home I got to thinking about the company – it had been a good solid company and I had enjoyed my 4 years with them as their international training and consulting manager.  I was looking forward to catching up on what had happened since then.

That got me thinking about when I left (it was to move up to Humboldt with the man who is now my husband of nearly 14 years).  Suddenly I remembered the paperwork regarding the 401k.  I had seen it over the years, always thinking I should throw it out, but I just couldn’t remember if I actually had ever done so.  I couldn’t remember exactly when or where I had last seen it, but I was going to dig through my papers until I could find it.

So tonight as my husband and I were getting his paperwork together, I started looking for my own. 

EUREKA!!

Not only did I find the letter from the company regarding the distribution (although I never found my copies of what I had signed), I actually found the first statement from the current plan administrator (the month after I rolled the money in).

Now, this is not a story meant to encourage you to hold on to every piece of paper you ever receive.  I found the documents in files where I had somehow had the foresight to place them years ago.

And, about three years ago I stopped keeping old copies of these monthly statements.  I now keep them for a year and then dump them when the next year starts.  Somehow I never got around to dumping those old records.

And I did manage to keep the original documents that will now save me a lot of taxes (and a lot of frustration).

The morale of this true story is to be judicious with what you chose to keep.  And to make sure that your financial records are in a place you will be able to find them.  But also, to remember that if you’ve got way too much “stuff” crowding up the place, you might never find that necessary whatever you’re looking for.

I was lucky that at least my filing system is relatively well organized and I was disciplined enough to have actually filed the papers!  And I’m grateful that I won’t have to spend any more time, effort or frustration trying to figure out how to find those folks!! 

I still want the mobile lifestyle, so I’ll keep downsizing and eliminating what’s no longer useful.  And I’m also still thinking it would be fun to call up Phil and find out where about the adventures he’s had over the past fifteen years.