BREAKING NEWS!
BREAKING NEWS – DATED 07/07/2010
From Bob Spreen
Sent: Wed, Jul 7, 2010 11:08 am Subject: Answer to joint surviorship Sent: Tue, Jul 6, 2010 9:07 pmSubject: RE: Milacron retirement
Again, their form of benefit does not change. They must answer the form honestly and in doing so, they are ensuring the fact that nothing will change.
For instance, if they retired with a J&S 50 with their spouse Ann, then they must fill out page 2 of PIF with Ann’s info.
The third page is optional and they can add however they want.
The Page 3 beneficiary designation will not affect their form of benefit and it is not for a continuing payment.
This is only for payments OWED to the PP at their death. For instance, a PP dies on 11/2/2010 and does not receive his 11/1/2010 payment.
He had a J&S form of benefit but his spouse is deceased as well. Whoever is on the third page of the PIF will get that one time payment. If his spouse is still alive, then she would get the payment.
Please reassure the participants that nothing is meant to change. We are just a new company issuing the payments and we must have our own forms with updated info filled out.
Their original retirement documents will not be affected. We will review their original docs and we will confirm their form of benefit on the benefit determination letter
BREAKING NEWS – DATED 07/06/2010 From Bob Spreen
1- When will we get a letter telling us what our retirement pay will be from PBGC?
Her answer below:
First, depending on when retirees went into pay and for how much, PBGC may cutback some participant’s payments.
This will be on 10/1 and letters will be sent by 9/1.
Mainly we focus on recent retirees that went into pay in the last 5 years or those that are over the maximum insurance limit.
They will be notified ahead of time and I believe it will not be that many retirees affected.
The only other letter we send is the benefit determination letter- it is sent after we review the plan.
Please see your welcome letter for an explanation on this. The review period takes about 24 months.
At that time, we send a letter informing participants of their amount and form of benefit. Any changes at that time will be discussed in that letter (increases, decreases, etc).
That’s it! We do not send monthly notices or annual letters. Just the cutback letter and the benefit determination letter.
Remember, the form of benefit never changes so whatever option the retiree chose at his date of retirement, he will continue to get that form of benefit. Only the amount may change.
Hopefully this helps. There is absolutely no reason for the retirees to be worried or on pins and needles.
We just took the plan over and we are reviewing all documents to make sure Buck and Milacron calculated pensions correctly. Again, if anything changes, we notify participants ahead of time by 30 days before any changes take place.
BREAKING NEWS – DATED 06/24/2010 NEW INFORMATION FROM BOB SPREEN 06/24/2010
Subject: from Spreen
Sent a message to my contact at PBGC asking if they were still on schedule to send out the Milacron packets on July 1, 2010, her answer below :
Actually, I am ahead by 2 days- the packets will be mailed out on June 29th.
DV’s will get their packets mailed out early as well – hopefully by July 3rd.
Thanks,
DV explaination below:
Deferred Vested (or Terminated Vested) Participant —
Generally, a former employee who worked long enough to earn "Vested Benefits" in a pension plan, but
who left the company sponsoring the plan without receiving a retirement benefit immediately.
Such a participant can receive benefit
payments from the plan once he or she reaches the plan's "Normal Retirement Age"
or, if the plan allows, the plan's "Early Retirement Age."
BREAKING NEWS – DATED 06/04/2010 NEW INFORMATION FROM BOB SPREEN 06/04/2010
1- Will the people who are not retired but will be eligible in the future receive a package July 1,2010
2- Would she send me a blank copy of the form we will be required to fill out
Her answers below:
Good morning,
1- Right now we are focusing on the Retirees- they will get the package on July 1.
2- No samples forms available- the actual form that Participants receive have their name and plan number printed on it (computer generated). It is very easy to understand and fill out.
I would send you a copy if I could; however, by doing this, people are likely to fill out the copy instead of the real form, causing a lot more confusion for our office and the participants.
Thank you again for helping out! Let me know if you have any questions.
NEW INFORMATION FROM BOB SPREEN 05/25/2010 I received the attached E-Mail from my contact at PBGC and also found out the following: 2- When we get the welcome package July 1,2010, there will be a form to fill out called "Payee Information Form", we must fill this form out within 90 days, the form must be filled out completely, every question must be answered or it will be considered incomplete. (Note: after we receive the form in July, we will be able to fill out the "Payee Information Form" on line or mail the completed form back in) There has been a slight change in plans – Payment assumption has been moved to August 1, 2010 for retirees. Retirees will continue to get their check from the same company as usual on June and July 1. Welcome packages will be sent out by the PBGC by July 1. The load of 4,800 retirees took a little bit longer than expected. We have to follow certain protocol and we have to check a large percentage of the retirees for any computer generated errors that sometimes occur. Because we did not finish the check until late yesterday, dates have been moved back. (Don’t worry- there were no errors). Please inform the retirees that they will receive the welcome package by July 1 and PBGC will assume payments on August 1.
PBGC INFORMATION Well we are finally on the PBGC list of retirement plans they are responsible for. Go to : Click on:"Workers and Retirees"( under the blue banner) Click on: (in the center column) " Find information on pension plans trusteed by PBGC" Type in case number: 21391600 (in the search box) Information will come up about Milacron, right now we are in the first stage of the take over Subject: FW: Participant Inquiry Plan #21391600 Plan Name: Milacron Retirement Plan Dear Mr. Spreen: I am responding to your pension inquiry below. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a US Government Agency, is now responsible for your pension plan. Within the next few months, you and all other participants will receive more information about PBGC and a form to complete and return to us. PBGC insures private pension plans like yours and protects benefits of workers and retirees covered by those plans. If a plan ends after a sponsoring employer has failed to put in enough money to pay all promised benefits, PBGC steps in to pay benefits, up to the limits set by Congress. These limits may require PBGC to pay less than your plan would have paid, had your employer continued to sponsor and fund the plan. PBGC receives no funds from general tax revenues. To finance the pension insurance program, we take in premiums from plan sponsors, assets from terminated pension plans, and earnings from investments. These monies help us to pay your plan’s benefits. Our website
Subject: from Spreen
Sent my contact two questions:
All deferred and terminated vested participants will receive a package on August 1 - we may stagger the dates because of the large size of this plan.
Really the only mistakes that can happen is if they do not sign and date the last page or if they do not send it in at all.
Don’t worry- participants have months to get this form filled out and returned, and they will be notified many times if they have not responded.
1- They will hold Federal tax but not State tax from our checks when they start sending them out (August 1,2010)
Bob Spreen
PBGC reviews your plan’s records to determine what benefits each person will receive. If you are receiving pension payments, these payments will continue without interruption during our review. Payments exceeding legal limits set by Congress will be reduced. If you are not receiving pension payments, we will pay you a benefit when you are eligible and apply to PBGC to begin payments. Until we complete our review of the plan records and calculate the benefits we can pay you under the law, the pension payments you receive are estimated payments.
To assist PBGC in completing its review and benefit calculations, PBGC on occasion requires information from the Social Security Administration (SSA). If this is necessary, PBGC will send you a form requesting your consent for PBGC to access SSA records on your behalf.
If you have any questions or need assistance you may reply directly to this e-mail. You may also call us at 1-800-400-7242. If you use a TTY/TDD, call 1-800-877-8339 and give the relay operator our telephone number. You may write to us at:
PBGC Insurance Operations Department
P.O. Box 151750
Alexandria VA 22315-1750
When writing us, please include your Social Security number and PBGC case number 21391600 and a daytime telephone number. To ensure privacy and security, Please do not include your social security number or any other confidential information when corresponding by e-mail.
Milacron has hired Coldwell Banker Schmidt (real estate broker) to sell the D.M.E plant in Michigan, asking price is $818,100.00.
Information came from Bankruptcy Court petition #0868