We have now posted sample letter templates for comments to the IRS. These templates give guidelines for effective comments to help convince the IRS to deny Saint Peter's latest attempt to claim "church plan" status for the pension plan. Since many current employees are concerned about reprisals from Saint Peter's, we have provided templates for both a signed and an anonymous letter. We have also provided a one-page fill-in-the-blanks template for people who feel intimidated by word-processing software, but we discourage its use; we believe a customized letter would be far more influential. If editing the template is a problem, try requesting help from a computer-savvy friend or family member, or write a handwritten letter along the lines of the template.
The IRS wants to hear from Plan participants, beneficiaries, and other "interested persons." Your comment must be received by the IRS by June 28, 2013 to be considered. Please tell your fellow retirees and employees about this opportunity, and pass along this blog's web address. The volume of comment letters received will mean a lot.
We have provided the templates in different file formats for compatibility with most word-processing software. If you have problems, please try another format; if problems persist, please post a comment and we'll do our best to help. You can access the letter templates here.
The management of Saint Peter's University Hospital is using the church to exempt itself from the Federal safeguards that protect your retirement plan. For an introduction, see Your Pension At Risk.
