Distant Strollers

 

That feeling when you realize you've been cheated out of $17,000.

First world problems, I know. 

Here's the story: way back in 2007, the company  I was working for let me go. I wasn't fired for cause, but the company in general and my office in particular had been struggling, and management decided that it was because my sales weren't meeting expectations (I wasn't a salesman). Sucks, but one phone call got me my next job and I didn't miss a beat, career-wise.

I could have rolled my 401(k) money from that job into my IRA, but I decided to keep it with the financial service they used to see if the interest/ROI there was any better. I kept it there over the years with the goal of keeping my savings diversified. The account changed hands several times over the years as my old company changed financial service firms, and the company itself was bought and sold at least twice in corporate mergers and acquisitions. But I kept my eye on the ball and tracked my money from account to account.   

I retired five years ago, and recently decided it was finally time to collect that 401(k) money. The account total is now over $27,000 after all the years of stock-market growth (I have more money in my IRA plus a few other 401(k) accounts - I didn't retire on $27,000 worth of savings). But when I went to make a withdrawal this week, I was told that my former company never deposited the matching funds, and that I was only vested $10,000 of the $27,000 total. In other words, $17,000 of the money in my account wasn't "mine."

I argued, I pleaded, and the account manager was sympathetic, but said that my vested portion of the account had been set since I parted ways with the old company. He suggested that I might want to contact the company and ask if they could contribute the rest of the funding now, but short of that, the total listed amount wasn't in the account, only the $10,000 or so that had been withheld from my paychecks while I worked there. He pointed out that different companies have different policies on when their employees become fully vested. I had been let go after three years and three months - perhaps I hadn't yet reached their vesting milestone, but I could call them and find out.

Good luck with that. I can just imagine how that call would go: "Hello, you let me go 17 years ago. Can you put $17,000 into my retirement fund, please?"  Honestly, I wouldn't even know where to start calling, and I'm sure the present financial officer, if I could even find him or her, would say I have to call some legacy fund or something for those kinds of things, or file some claim, or contact a fiduciary to find what benefits remain. In any event, whoever's in charge now is going to be more interested in protecting the interests of his employer than making things right for someone who didn't work out almost two decades ago. 

I'm not going to even start. I know I won't be successful, and I know I'll get a frustrating and stressful run-around. Actively trying to get the money will only make the loss that much more painful for the effort. I got screwed over by the company 17 years ago, I never got the money that was due to me, and now I never will. I just need to accept that and move on. Never did like those folks, anyway. 

Final blow: after taxes, I get only $8,000 of my vested $10k. So I started this process hoping to collect $27,000, and will walk away with only $8,000. Of course, as a retiree, I should be able to get most, if not all, of my withheld taxes refunded next April.