Retirement accounts have lost $2 trillion so far

This headline was too hard to pass up: "Retirement accounts have lost $2 trillion so far." Associated Press writer Julie Hirschfeld Davis reports.

Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months -- about 20 percent of their value -- Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday as lawmakers began investigating how turmoil in the financial industry is whittling away workers' nest eggs.

The upheaval that has engulfed financial firms and sent the stock market plummeting is also devastating people's savings, forcing families to hold off on major purchases and even delay retirement, Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office, told the House Education and Labor Committee.

As Congress investigates the causes and effects of the meltdown, the panel pressed economists and other analysts on how the housing, credit and other financial troubles have battered pensions and other retirement funds, which are among the most common forms of savings in the United States.

"Unlike Wall Street executives, America's families don't have a golden parachute to fall back on," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the panel chairman. "It's clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis."

Teresa Ghilarducci (who we have blogged on a couple of times before) of the New School is quoted on her critique of 401(k) plans in general:

"They are fatally flawed," Teresa Ghilarducci, an economist at the New School for Social Research, said of the tax-advantaged plans. "They're too risky, and it's not good policy to have workers run their own retirement plan. They want government help."

Weekend DOL Blotter - 10/5/2008

The EBSA/DOL was busy at work again last week, and this time the enforcement action was in teh Northeast: "U.S. Labor Department sues to appoint independent fiduciary for 401(k) plan abandoned by Kennebunk, Maine, company."

Portland, Maine – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine seeking appointment of an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of TRITECH Information Strategies Inc., formerly of Kennebunk, Maine.

The company sponsored the plan for the benefit of its employees beginning on January 1, 2000, and ceased operations in 2002. The suit alleges that in June 2004, John E. Schofield, president and owner of TRITECH, was incarcerated in India on fraud charges. He and his wife, Linda A. Schofield, were trustees of the plan. After ceasing TRITECH's operations, the Schofields failed to take any steps to prudently administer the plan, thereby abandoning it.

First, a quick word about this business of incarceration in India. I had to struggle a bit to find more information about this, but what turned up was very interesting. The Telegraph is newspaper based in Kolkata, India that carried the only news article I could find that helps shed some light on this. From The Telegraph, B.R. Srikanth reports: "Fraud Alarm Rings in Call Centres" (a bit colorfully written)

Bangalore, Sept. 22: Heaven help if you are a budding BPO or call-centre entrepreneur out to grab every which overseas contract that comes your way and have unwittingly fallen into the clutches of John Schofield.

Suave, sophisticated, American and employed with Tritech Information Strategies of the US, he'd first size you up. Then he"d invite you to his luxury hotel suite, tote his snazzy mobile and flash his sleek thinkpad that he claims is stashed with impressive client lists and business projections.

Your desperation index measured, he'd turn on his charm. And before you realised it, he'd have sweet-talked you into believing you would land the most lucrative of contracts ahead of your rivals if you trusted him.

Only, you'd have to pay him a few lakhs upfront so that your name tops his overseas clients? list. Your money and you parted, you wouldn't be able to track him again. Not to worry, you'd be told, he'd get back after an urgent overseas business trip. Subsequently, if you tried to catch him on his mobile, a taped voice would keep telling you negotiations were still under way.

Here's a snapshot of the "case file" inset box on the website:

Well, so much for Mr. Schofield. He is now incarcerated in the "Tihar Jail" in New Delhi. Now getting back to the DOL report:

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires employee benefit plans to be managed by named fiduciaries. Without a fiduciary, plan participants and beneficiaries cannot obtain plan information or access accounts to make investments or collect retirement benefits.

Six of the plan's seven participants have received distributions of their plan accounts, but one has not. Blackrock Funds of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the custodian of the plan's assets. Following requests by the Labor Department, Blackrock has declined to exercise its option under the department's regulations to release the remaining assets to the sole remaining plan participant. As a result, this last individual cannot obtain his appropriate plan distribution without the intervention of the federal court.

The Labor Department's suit asks the court to appoint an independent fiduciary to administer the plan, distribute the remaining assets to the remaining plan participant and oversee the plan's termination. The plan currently has approximately $21,000 in assets being held by Blackrock Funds.

"This suit demonstrates that the Labor Department will act to protect the rights of even a single plan participant by initiating litigation when necessary," said James Benages, regional director in Boston for the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). "We hope the court will help ensure that this individual receives the retirement benefits he is due."

The suit resulted from an investigation conducted by EBSA's regional office in Boston. Employers and workers can contact that office at 617.565.9600 or toll free at 866.444.3272 for help with problems relating to private sector pension and health plans. In fiscal year 2006, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.4 billion related to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits for millions of American workers and their families. Additional information can be found at www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Chao v TRITECH Information Strategies Inc.
Civil Action Number: 2:08-CV-00321-DBH

All this for one participant with an account worth $21,000.