VALIC review: will not give me my retirement money 58

JP...I agree with you, from what I have had experienced as financial advisor, my clients have only had problems with AIG Retirement & AIG SunAmerica Mutual Funds, they create headaches for everyone. I would definitely rollover your old 403(k) into a traditional IRA, since you no longer work for that company. I love American Funds and also Franklin Templeton. Good luck JP!

Chris

I am currently having a problem with AIG retirement. My school district wired my sick pay money on Dec 30th to VALIC with the intent that it was added to my 403b. As of today, Feb 19th, it is still not in my account. I keep being told that VALIC has the money, but my application to have it deposited is still being processed...in the meantime, they have it in a Money Market I fund and it is less money than the original amt wired. No one will give me answers so I have now submitted my complaint to the Federal Reserve.

AIG Valic not only seems to have no relationship with their individual representatives, but also does not update their files with the most recent name that can signature your release to obtain your money. They then nail you with a 20%-40% fee for withdrawing early so you lise 1/3 to 1/2 of your retirement. I am getting my money out of there and then reporting them to better business bureau. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH AIG VALIC!

My story as to why anyone who really cares to protect their retirement better take some control of it and TAKE IT AWAY FROM VALIC!

Did two online transactions that never went through. Am holding transfer printouts. They were researching this 1.5 months ago! Of course I never heard a thing. One month ago I requested transfer paperwork to move all of my retirement assets away from VALIC. I never received them after calling and even having it confirmed that they were being sent! This organization is unbelievably incompetent. Today I spoke with a supervisor and she informed me that they had never been sent. So, now she is FAXing them. Why do you think they would not FAX them when I asked previously? I believe they will hold the funds as long as possible before permitting them to be transferred out.

Oh, and why do you think I made the decision to move out of VALIC in the first place? About two years ago, I called my VALIC representative to see why I had not heard anything from him in a while after he had directed my Fiance and myself into certain investment vehicles that we were supposed to adjust periodically. What a surprise--he had quit four months previously and we were never notified by VALIC! So, when I called VALIC, they did not even know they had our accounts!

Then, just recently, our new local representative (in Hawaii) could not answer a basic question for me and informed me that she would not call the national VALIC office to find out the information for me because she would have to wake up early in the morning to do so and she had kids to send off to school. So, I asked her why she couldn't wake up an hour earlier to do this as I am her client! I ended up waking up at 5 AM and making the call myself. (Oh, and did I tell you that my holdings have not made a cent of profit since 9-11, but rather are still at 40% of their original value. However, every quarter, the company removes the fees to pay the people who are supposedly the representatives that work for me, the client.) So I called to ask a very easy question about warning statements on the VALIC website and it took a supervisor 1/2 hour to figure out what the website actually meant! And when we were done speaking, it was my opinion that she nor her boss understood anything about their own regulations posted on the VALIC website.

To avoid any possible headaches in the future, DO NOT DO ANY BUSINESS WITH AIG VALIC!

They make it virtually impossible for prompt and timely distributions, transfers and/or rollovers to occur from VALIC accounts. They will not post the necessary forms on their website for clients to print out and send in, so when you call, their "customer service" personnel is rude and incompetent, and will treat you like a criminal after they've had you on hold for ten minutes. They will stall for weeks, and sometimes months, until sending you the so-called "correct" necessary form, and then will not honor your requests for timely transfer, distribution, and/or rollover. They have a hard time hiring and maintaining representatives, who will not contact you periodically to meet and review your accounts, and who never seem to return phone calls for service. Above all else, they are massively overpriced and expensive to hold in comparison to similar companies' products. Why do business with a company like this?

AIG VALIC is a terrible, miserable company that needs a thorough auditing and then a complete shut down.

I have two 401k's and a 403b with differnet companies. Valic managed my 403b. I use the word "managed" very loosely because that fund's growth was negative in the 6 years I had it. Grant it that it was a rough time for every retirment fund, but my other two funds did as well as expected. One of those 401k accounts was not even "managed" -- I neglected it and it still out performed my Valic account with ease. Get your money out of Valic ASAP. Don't waste your potential earnings with Valic. Also, during that time I had 3 Valic Financial Advisors: One was very good, the other two were completely useless -- never answered the phone and never returned calls. RonG

I am having a very difficult time getting a loan against my 403b with Valic. I call every day and speak to a different customer service person which tells me my check will be mailed the following day. I'm being told each time, every time I call, everything is in order & expect your check to mailed the following day. Still no check, and I will call back again tomorrow, and the next, next...etc. What a terrible decision I made putting my money with Valic! Hard lesson to learn If anyone is thinking of allowing Valic to manage their money, please re-consider your decision! I need to know how to get my funds transferred to another company! asap I need help before my investment is completely gone from being mis-managed by Valic.

AIG Valic stole my money, I paid for my loan but never posted and called them hundred times they kept saying we never received the payment, but i paid by electronic on line payment from my checking, it was posted on my statement 2 months ago, but Valic insisted they never received. I called my bank and they told me that it was already paid. So please careful if you have to borrow money out from your valic account and make payment to them, MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR STATEMENT.

If you have a safe choice, put your money SOMEPLACE ELSE! These folks are INCOMPETENT IDIOTS. I requested a small distribution from my retirement account about 10 days ago. In order to get it quickly, I requested an electronic transfer. On the distribution request form that I faxed to them, I had written my bank's (PNC) routing number and my account number...AND I included a voided check that also contained the correct information. I called last week (I think it was Friday), and the representative ASSURED me that the funds left my account on Wednesday, the 21st, and that it was PNC's fault that I didn't have my money. I called PNC, and they spent about 20 minutes trying to find my money. They told me that they had NO record of receiving anything from VALIC. This weekend was Memorial Day weekend and VALIC was closed, but first thing this morning (Tuesday) I called them. They told me that the money was sent to Bank of America last Wednesday. Bank of America? I don't have an account at Bank of America! They then told me that it would take a day or two to get my money back from Bank of America and to send it to the correct bank. In the meantime, drafts have come through the PNC account that was supposed to have the distribution in it, and I now have close to $200 in overdraft fees. I spoke to a supervisor at VALIC and told him that I want my money TODAY. He doesn't think that they can do that, but he's going to "get back to me." We'll see what happens. It takes a MILLISECOND to transfer money electronically, but these idiots can't fix their screw-up in a few hours?

There are way better companies out there such as Nationwide, who I never had a problem with. With Valic I left my company and asked for a withdrawal of my money and I still yet to get a check. They keep telling me I have to wait before they can re-send a new check. I will never use them again.

Valic has put me through so much.
I am having that problem with Annuity Valic with stalling until the maturity date and grace period expires; refuses to honor the contract, and withheld a large sum of money as penalty for late withdrawal. I have tried every thing, yet Valic refuses to refund me that money.
I reported the company (Valic) to The Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Bureau of Financial Regulation, and I am checking to see what other department I can report that company to. This is important to file complaints, because when a class action law suit is filed against that company for deceptive practices, you will be included and can get a check from the lawyers handling the lawsuit, and believe sometimes it is a large check.

I am so glad I found this site! I too have been trying to rollover my Valic account that II had when employed by a different school system to Lincoln Financial which is offered by my current school system since APRIL! The Lincoln Financial representative and myself have completed all the necessary paperwork back in April and my funds have still not been transferred. Yesterday, Valic informed me that I needed to fill out a lot more paperwork for them. It is almost August and I really do not have time to be running around to my former employer getting signatures and then getting a signature guarantee from my bank, etc. I have had my money in Valic for 19 years and now they are being a royal pain in my butt!

I just tried to get money from my retirement fund - The Standard. I went thru all paperwork to request an Emergency Withdrawal ( for some reason this is a new tactic to keep you from getting it right away by these companies) and it was signed. After waiting for 13 workdays, the company now wants me to take out a loan, I refuse to take out a loan. I don't need another payment! Anyone else want to sue!

I'm a registered representative with another company who is trying to get client's money transferred. Some of the money is with the mutual fund side of the company and some is with the variable annuity side. The story is the same. Lost paperwork. Never received paperwork. Additional paperwork needed. This started in the middle of April and just received another form to send in. I was talking to another Rep yesterday and he told me the same happened to him 12-15 years ago. Delay, delay, delay. If anything like this occurred with my broker-dealer there would be hell to pay.
I don't think this is incompetence. I believe it is Valic policy to wear out the client so that the client gives up and Valic retains the assets.

Where is FINRA? Where are the state insurance commissioners?

AIG Valic...too big to fail?...

I worked at Mission Hospitals in Asheville NC and we had Valic. After 18 yrs, I transferred to the VA Hospital. I had to go and demand my AIG account money for rollover and it was the Reps last day. The amount that I received was substantially smaller than what I thought was in the account. Last year, I received a letter from Mission Hospitals to inform me that my AIG account had been "compromised" and letters were being sent to all that were affected. I've made countless calls, emails and even made a visit to Human Resources but only to be turned away or hung up on. This was my retirement and feel that it was embezzled from and covered up. I'm not sure who to contact and would like to settle this. If anyone has answers, please let me know!

I am having the same problems as most of the above with Valic. I had one fixed account that matured and Valic told me that I had a 30 day grace period in which to make a decision as to what to do with the funds. Decided to roll them over into another company. Valic said I would receive the necessary forms in 5 to 7 days. When they did not arrive, called again and they apologized that somehow they had never been sent but would be sent. Again no forms. More calls. I finally confronted them that I thought this was a scam. If they delay distribution they continue to make money off the clients money. If this happens to thousands of clients, the amounts would be quite substantial. All of a sudden, I could get the forms by email. Received the forms. Had to run around and get signature guarantees at the bank and notary signatures. Faxed the forms in on the 13th of August and sent hard copies as well. New institution received the funds on Aug 22nd. Upon review found that the numbers received by the new fund were less than they should have been. Called again and was informed that since the rollover was made after the grace period, a 1700 market adjustment had been taken out. Said only recourse I had was to send a letter of complaint to customer no service. Request was made way before grace period was over and it was their delays that created the problems. Surely there are enough people out there that the same thing has happened to that a class action law suit could be considered or at least a meaningful report to the S.E.C. be made. Horrible company to deal with. I asked if I could claim money for all the time I am spending on this matter. They responded that I could put it in my complaint letter.

Similar problem. I have been trying to rollover 403b funds since February 2014. I completed the forms as requested getting signatures from the former CEO of the company I worked for. They then requested contrary to previous instructions that I have the CEO now complete the vesting percentage. In the meantime the company is out of business and the CEO is unreachable. VALIC instructed my over the phone to contact the state department of labor, whom is confused by this instruction. VALIC has so far refused to provide written proof of these instructions by mail or email. I have currently filed a complaint with the US Department of Labor, Employee Benefits. I will next file a complaint with the State Department of Insurance.

I have had similar problems. Valic has terrible customer service. Unfortunately, my wife is forced to continue using them because her employer is contracted with. But I'll be pulling my funds out ASAP. Their website doesn't work and I can't touch my funds to make changes, and no one seems to be able to fix it. Be warned. They will deny access to your funds and there is nothing you can do except file with the SEC. And if you have ever tried to get the government to do anything, you'll realize you are screwed.

I am currently waiting for my retirement as I have recently changed jobs and decided to cash out my 401k as it was not a huge sum of money. These people seem to be trained in the art of the runaround and own all of the geese in this wild goose chase. I have been dealing with them for two months because they only sent me my former employers contributions and not mine...now I have to re-submit the paperwork and take it back to the plan administrator and have her sign it again, but first I have to be sent the paperwork because Valic refuses to fax it to her but its ok for her to fax the signed form to them. I have been waiting for 2 weeks for the second set of papers to be sent. Every time I call they say something like " Oh I see you have contacted us numerous times" ya think they would try even harder knowing that I have been ran around and misinformed, It is MY money after all and they seem to not want to give it to me. JD

They will not send you an IRA rollover form. BY mail or fax . We have requested 3 times. They will send a cash distribution form
after a 2 week wait each time and then say oops! NO excuse for this . They don't want to release YOUR money.
Next complaint is to Texas ins commission which I am sure they must know well. Fellow employees have had same
problems trying to get a IRA rollover so it is a common practice there. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

JP...my wife is having almost identical problems to yours. They are constantly changing the rules to suit their needs. She has been getting the runaround since March 2014. Was your complaint ever addressed by VALIC? If so...how?

I agree that Valic is bad news. I had Valic during my employment with the State of Florida. I have been trying very hard to get them to rollover my check from years of work to a rollover account. They have stalled so many times. They have not been cooperative with me. The new rollover account office (Scwab) tells me that they have not received the check even though their office has asked for the check multiple times over. The Valic office keeps coming up with excuses for not sending the check: the first attempt to send it was mailed to the wrong address; the check was sent back to Valic because they didn't write my account number on, etc...) 10 more days went by and no word from Valic. I called, and someone in their office said that my check has just been sitting in her office because she didn't know what to do with it. So, her final decision was NOT to mail it to my new rollover account...just let it sit in her office and gather dust. Oh well...her attitude...who cares about all this money? They are a headache to deal with. The latest news...they said they'll reissue my check and try to mail it again. Oh boy, it's going to take another 10 more days.

I have never been so disgusted with any company as with Valic. They have had me duplicate forms, claimed they didn't get forms that I had the public library fax to them, stated that I filled out the wrong forms, etc.I never talked to the same person twice in ten calls to them. In short: they have stalled in every way possible to not release the partial withdrawal I requested. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH "vALIC" !

lIVID

AIG VALIC is horrendous. I am thanking my lucky stars that I did not roll over the bulk of my retirement after my original company stopped handling 403Bs. I put in for a hardship and they needed more documentation which I provided. I heard nothing for weeks and followed up. It turned out that my contract wasn't official because I was missing a signature. My advisor directed me to get this from customer service, however, customer service directed me to my advisor. I lost days just turning in the wrong thing as my advisor told me they needed an updated expiration date for your license. I continued to call once a week, sometimes more and they would promise me that I would receive my disbursement the next day no avail. After being told that my disbursement was approved for three weeks I received an email from them asking for additional documentation. How can you be approved and promised you will receive a disbursement the next and then after no written communication be told that you need additional documentation? Valic is holding my money hostage. They are unprofessional, inept and will not keep one single promise or guarantee that they make. Do not allow this company to manage your money!

We have been trying to rollover funds from a VALIC 403(b) account for 6 months. They "didn't receive the fax", didn't have the signature of our local agent, didn't receive the fax. When I asked to speak with someone that receives the documents, I was told three times they did not speak to anyone. Obviously this is a call center, whose goal is to stonewall investors. I am on hold now to speak to a "supervisor", It has been 20 minutes and still holding.

Ms. Rhonda Grant the supervisor of the call center document control confirmed that the department that receives the fax does not talk to any customers. Also, I asked if they ever send out a confirming e-mail, phone call to let the customer know if the fax was received. She said a letter is sent out - I can tell you the only correspondence received was a blank application to start the process all over again. Ms. Grant was helpful, however, she has nothing to do with actually completing the request for rollover.

I told Ms. Grant that, given the large number of on-line complaints, it appears that VALIC 's policy is to delay and obfuscate any request to rollover funds to another provider. We are going to begin again - maybe we'll receive the money before we pass on to the hereafter!

This experience has been nothing but a headache! I've filled out multiple forms they have sent me, upon my request, to transfer my funds to a different company. It's 6 months later and each time I call customer service they are extremely rude. Nothing has been done. I would not recommend this organization to ANYONE!

I can also report similar problems with VALIC. I have been working over nine weeks to have only a portion of my VALIC funds moved to another plan with a different company. I have already completed two sets of forms wherein I have gone to the bank twice to obtain a Medallion Signature Guaranty. Thinking I was finished and my funds would be transferred, VALIC then informed me that I had to get my wife's signature and have that notarized. So we made our third trip to the bank and thought we were finished. I then received a letter from VALIC that my 403(b) plan administrator would also need to approve my transfer or rollover which made no sense since I retired from my employer two years ago.

Next, VALIC determined that my request was a rollover and not a transfer (what is the difference?) and I would not need the plan administrator's signature. The representative said she would mark the rollover box and the money would be sent to the new plan provider. That was yesterday, February 2nd; today they called and said I would have to redo the entire form because changes are not acceptable without my original signature again.

I would never recommend this company to anyone. I was forced to invest with VALIC while working because my employer contracted with them to manage our 403(b) plan.

My advice to educators is to NEVER agree to participate in an annuity investment with VALIC. After 35 years of investing in an annuity with VALIC through my school district, I retired. I have been fighting with VALIC for SIX MONTHS to get my money. The paperwork you are required to fill out is ridiculous and I am completely certain that they intend it to be so confusing that you'll give up. You will NEVER be able to get your own money without a signature from someone in your school district, or at the company they have contracted with to administer the VALIC annuity, (or both entities). Why your (former) school district and some other firm they have contracted with have to give permission for VALIC to give you your money is difficult to understand. But it's just one of the ways they will do everything in their power to keep you away from surrendering your annuity and getting your money. VALIC? Oh hell no! RUN do not walk away from that company. Invest your money in a financial institution that won't assign a babysitter with power of attorney over you.

It took 5 phone calls to get Valic to change my address. It took 8 additional phone calls plus a conference call with my new plan to get them to send me the paperwork needed to transfer my 403B funds to my current employer 401K fund. It took 3 faxes of the transfer paperwork before they admitted they received the paperwork. The "certification signature" page was not returned to me so I am unable to transfer my funds. I called Valic and supervisor Ricki verified they received the certification signature page but no answers as to why they are not providing it me. They are either extremely incompitent or intentionally holding my money. Very poor service!

My wife recently changed jobs and wanted to rollover her funds from her old 401k into her new VALIC account. After completing the mound of paperwork that VALIC requires and the simple paperwork that her old investment company Principle required, the funds were transferred to VALIC. Now the VALIC rep contacts us and says she needs more information from us before the funds can be deposted. They need to how much we have in "assets"? After asking WHY they needed this information for a simple rollover we gave her a number figure just to satisfy them. Got an email confirmation all was good, that was on Aug 3rd 2016. On Sept 23rd we get a call from Principal that her check was returned and they needed to know how to proceed? Contacted the VALIC rep who appologized for dropping the ball and said we need to give them "detailed" breakdowns of our "assets". Here is her message, copied and pasted:

Please provide the following information:

1. The Client Account Form did not detail your liquid assets as being qualified (retirement) or non-qualified (non-retirement) nor what type of investments your liquid assets are (Cash, checking, savings, variable annuities, fixed annuities, marketable securities). You had told me that you had $50, 000 in assets – can you tell me how the assets are broken down (qualified or non-qualified) and what type of investments the assets are in?
2. An additional question is the value and type of your life insurance you both have? The type of account that you are transferring into is a Variable Annuity – which increases your death benefit, like an insurance policy

Our reply was, IF your company cannot make a simple rollover transaction without this information then we will just leave the funds with Principle. Your request is rediculous and we will not divulge any personal information.

Our advice... stay far away from this company! I only hope that we can get her funds out of them without having to involve a lawyer!

My complaint is that I'm trying to borrow from my retirement and but they want release the loan. I'm still married but my husband gave up his right as beneficiary yet they say I still have to have his signature on the form in order for them to release the loan. I asked why is it they have his signature when he is no longer the beneficiary and I was told it is to protect the spouse. My question is what are they prospecting him from when in the event something happens to me he want receive any benefits? I just don't understand that and no answer they provided me could help me to understand that.

Terrible company and customer service!

Incredibly bad service, as well as poor growth. I had an employer forced account with Valic, when I retired I wanted to roll this account over to another retirement account because of the horrible rate of return...however they with held 20% federal tax and local income tax as well, even though I requested that they not do this, when I called their answer was basically "tough luck".

One of the worst company. This company did not roll over my retirement fund. Instead, they created months of delay. In frustration, I withdrawn the money, but they would not give me money back. Instead, they agreed to pay me annuity, which I agreed. Simply, because I did not want to deal with this useless company. Now, I am calling them for annuity every other month, since they do not pay it in time. If I do not call, who knows they might not pay for that month. What a useless company.

I have been trying for months to get my money rolled over into another account. I feel like my money has been taken hostage as Valic is one of the most difficult groups of people to work with. For years I paid into a 403B but now that I am retired I wanted to place the money into an IRA. Well, this should have been a simple process, but due to the incompetency of Valic's staff, I have yet to receive my roll over funds into my IRA. All they want me to do is complete the paperwork out again stating all sorts of inane reasons for needing the paperwork completed again. I actually cannot believe what they are doing is legal. I have investments in many companies and Valic is truly one of kind for how horribly they run their business. This is why I don't want my money with them, yet I did not realize it would be this difficult to retrieve my money and roll it over in another account. I feel like I have lost my money--and over the years, this is retirement money.

We are dealing with the same BS from VALIC. The reason we are getting out of Valic is because of poor customer service and dismal results from their investment funds. This company sucks.

I did everything they stated. A week later, NO CHECK! I had to call them to see what the hold up was a week later, they are stating that my signature was a copy from the last time. It's my signature and I need the money to pay my Real Estate Taxes. Now it will be late and I will have to pay a late fee and NO Thanks to them. It's not fun money, apparently they think so! It's my money and I need it. Can't find a full time job, going on 9 years. On Medicaid and Food Stamps. They want my credit card to Next Day deliver my check, what don't you understand! They are the worst company to invest your money with. Crappy customer service! I had to learn it the hard way.