Pension Advisors Help Retirees Get What’s Due

Ever try to read your company’s pension documents?

They are typically written in a language that resembles English, but nothing you can understand without an actuary’s degree and the wisdom of a senior partner in a big law firm.

Millions of people are left with the nagging feeling they might not be getting their just deserts when it comes to retirement checks. In fact, a recent government audit of a group of plans showed that at least 8% of the participants were getting less than they were entitled to receive.

That’s why the work of the folks at the small network of pension counseling projects is so valuable. With determination, and endless patience, they track down the addresses of old employers, unravel the complexities of figuring benefit amounts, write letters and make phone calls to help bewildered retirees.

“When we opened our doors, we had people come in who had been trying to get help for three or four years,” said Ellen Bruce, associate director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, which runs one of the most aggressive pension counseling programs. “It’s pretty difficult work.”

*

Pension counseling groups are a backup for the Labor Department, which handles 80,000 calls a year on health and pension matters through its national hotline ([202] 219-8776) and its 10 regional offices. (Books on “What You Should Know About Your Pension” and “Protect Your Pension” are available through [800] 998-7542.)

“Most older people, especially those with low incomes and lower levels of education, are bewildered by the clauses and subsections of their pension plans and are intimidated by the procedures involved in pursuing claims,” said a recent report to Congress by the Administration on Aging.

The Boston project and several others around the country were started in 1993 with modest grants from the federal Administration on Aging, but the money ran out last year, sending the groups scrambling for private foundation backing to stay in business.

“We desperately need a base of funding,” said Bruce, who was elated at the news last week that Washington may be getting back into the game.

At the prodding of Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, a Senate appropriations committee voted to provide extra money to restore funds to the existing counseling centers and open new ones in other regions.

“That would be a breath of saving grace,” Bruce said.

More money will mean more telephone lines, office space, budgets for mailing and copying, and the chance to pay modest stipends to the people who do the tough, tedious work of helping confused retirees get the right pension amounts.

In Boston, for example, two men who each worked more than 20 years for a company that went bankrupt couldn’t find out where to apply for their pensions. A volunteer with the University of Massachusetts at Boston project tracked down an insurance company--after four months of letters and phone calls--that was holding annuities for the two men. As an unexpected bonus, there was a list of 20 other former workers entitled to pensions, and they have been contacted.

*

Another case involved a 67-year-old woman who had been laid off and was entitled to a lump-sum payment but didn’t know how to apply for the money. The pension counselors found the right forms and helped her fill them out.

“We have the luxury of having wonderful volunteers--it’s cheap labor,” said Jack Pizer, the project’s only paid employee. He works four days a week with a staff of sophisticated volunteers, including a retired banker, a woman who ran a small business, a former human resources department executive and a couple of attorneys.

The whole budget is $80,000 a year, a pittance compared with the $800,000 in lump-sum benefits and $18,000 a month in regular payments that the project has already recovered for 750 retirees. Most of them were low-paid blue-collar workers barely managing on very tight budgets.

“These are not sophisticated people. They will say: ‘Oh, I threw those papers out a long time ago,’ ” said Pizer, referring to the pension documents and notices.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Where to Call

* Arizona--Pima Council on Aging, (520) 790-7262

* California--California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, (415) 474-5471

* Illinois--Chicago Department on Aging, (312) 744-2616 or (312) 744-2684

* Massachusetts--Pension Assistance Project, (617) 287-7311

* Michigan--Area Administration on Aging, (810) 948-9691

* Minnesota--Minnesota Senior Federation, (612) 645-0261

* Missouri--OWL Gateway Chapter, (314) 725-5862

* New York--Legal Services for the Elderly, (212) 391-0120

*

Rosenblatt reports from Washington on financial, health, and aging issues. His e-mail address is bob.rosenblatt@latimes.com