How long do you wait after you ask the SSA (or IRS) to forward your letters before you start moving accounts from a terminated plan? (assuming other avenues come up empty, as well)

A month? 3 months? 6 months?

A reasonable time. (Hey, maybe I have a second career as a reg writer!)

Seriously, though . . . here's an SSA link that includes a phone number that might be helpful to find an answer to your question:

http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cf...amp;p_topview=1

The IRS Letter Forwarding Service takes 3 months from the time you request a contract until the mailing is performed. You might considering using a locator service that incorporates a Government Forwarding Service into the process. My company, Pension Benefit Information, Inc., performs a "diligent" search designed specifically to meet all the PBGC requirements for a terminating plan. The advantage to using our service is: PBI manages the returned mail, provides only one address or beneficiary per record (the right one, confirmed by the participant), and provides "PROOF" that a diligent search was performed. We typically submit anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 records per IRS forwarding project; so we know for sure when the mailing hits! We are the only locator service that has the ability to identify a beneficiary and their relationship to the decedent. How is this done? We communicate to the beneficiary using their information or the decedents information. We tell the participant/beneficiary what employer/plan is looking for them and advise them that the pension plan is terminating. PBI provides call center support for participants, easing up the workload for plan sponsors and/or administrators. Feel free to contact me at 415-482-9611 x206 or at susanm@pbinfo.com. I will be happy to send you details on our service.