Search the News Archive

Why Can't 3.6 Million Teachers Get a Group Discount on Their 403(b) Plans?

"Instead of collectivizing the investment needs of millions of teachers, spindly individual contracts with plan vendors are the rule.... This system has a dramatic effect upon the final balances of the individual teacher accounts, jeopardizing their retirement. According to a white paper by Aon Hewitt, teachers in 403(b) plans pay an astonishing ten billion dollars a year in unnecessary expenses! The biggest contributor to this conflagration is the individual annuity and fund expenses."

FINRA Finds MetLife Does the Ol' Bait and Switch with Its Annuities

"According to the [May 3] settlement, MetLife sometimes overstated the cost of a customer's existing variable annuity contract, which in some instances increased a customer's cost by 2% annually.... FINRA sampled some 35,500 replacement contract applications submitted by MetLife representatives, and found that 72% -- or about 25,560 applications -- contained at least one error that understated the value of the contract being replaced.... MetLife representatives sold these replacement annuities to their unsuspecting clients and collected commissions that ranged between 5-7% on the new sales!"

Rich Plan, Poor Plan

"The [DOL's] proposed fiduciary rule will strengthen already modernized 401(k) regulations. Remarkably, it will have no bearing where it is needed most. 403(b) plans provide very little or no fiduciary protections for employees. The proposal will do NOTHING to change this sorry state of affairs. Since 403(b) plans are considered to be supplementary to the retirement needs of employees, the regulatory standards they are held to are almost non-existent."