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Pension Red Alert: 70% of Pensions Are Never Audited

"[I]f your money is invested in a pension that has never been audited, no one knows for certain the money is actually there. That, I would submit, should be of concern to every investor in an unaudited retirement plan. You need to find out if your pension is unaudited and, if so, demand a true audit before it's too late."

Text of FINRA Investor Alert: The IRA Rollover -- Ten Tips to Making a Sound Decision

"If you are considering rolling over money from an employer plan into an IRA -- or if you have been in contact with a financial professional to do so -- follow these tips to decide whether an IRA rollover is right for you. Evaluate your transfer options.... Minimize taxes by rolling Roth to Roth and traditional to traditional.... Think twice before you do an indirect rollover.... Be wary of 'Free' or 'No Fee' claims.... Realize that conflicts of interest exist."

For Plan Participants and IRA Owners, A Brief Summary of Pension Protection Act

Excerpt: Parts of the act will probably apply directly to you and your financial and tax situation. Other parts – especially the trade provisions and miscellany that Congress tacked on the end – probably won't. Where to begin?

SEC Examines Mutual Funds, Money Market Funds and Target Date Funds

"On November 7, 2019, the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) published a Risk Alert highlighting the most often cited deficiencies and weaknesses observed in recent examinations of registered investment companies, including as related to national examination initiatives focusing on money market funds and target date funds."

Don't Let Money Get Stuck in the Upside Down: The Uncashed Check Dilemma

"[1] Establish a system for tracking distribution checks from issuance through cashing, with a follow-up alert when a check is not cashed within a reasonable time.... [2] Develop procedures for locating participants if distribution check correspondence comes back undeliverable.... [3] If a check is uncashed for a significant period, re-contact the participant and encourage him or her to cash the check.... [4] If the participant is 'missing,' take action to locate him/her under IRS and DOL guidance."

American Academy of Actuaries New Social Security Tool Is Deficient in Alerting the Public to Potential Cash Flow Issues

"[This post discusses] yet another feature of the tool that may also mislead the public about the effectiveness of these possible 'fixes.' This feature ignores the potential negative impact on system assets of overly deferring the revenue increases or benefit reductions necessary to restore system's actuarial balance. Thus, while certain changes may achieve actuarial balance ... these changes aren't expected to keep the OASDI Trust fund from running out of money during the entire 75-year projection period, and therefore, should not be considered as viable, much less as a 'fix.' "

SEC Chairman Alerted to Horrific Private Equity Side Letters

"For fiduciaries overseeing other people's money, private equity's disparate treatment of investors, abusive industry practices and alarming lack of transparency should be deal-breakers. Nevertheless, pensions in recent years have dramatically increased their allocations to private equity, either because they don't understand the dangers lurking in the shadows or simply don't care as long as above-market returns are promised -- enhanced returns which will supposedly reduce severe pension underfunding."

DOL Backing Up FMLA Enforcement Promise: Employers Feel the Pinch

"Not too long ago, the DOL announced it would start ramping up FMLA enforcement, and that promise has already led to a number of costly settlements and court orders.... [President] Obama's proposed budget for 2014 called for the DOL's Wage and Hour Division to receive $243 million, an increase of about $14 million. And $3.4 million of that was specifically for increased enforcement of the FMLA. Now it looks like the agency is putting that money to use."

Using HRAs to Pay Insurance Premiums: Proposed Legislation Aims to Bring Back Popular Obamacare Workaround

"The Small Business Health Relief Act would allow some firms to use stand-alone HRAs, plans that contributes un-taxed money an employee can use to pay for insurance premiums.... Specifically, the bill would: [1] Ensure small businesses and local municipalities with fewer than 50 employees are allowed to continue using pre-tax dollars to give employees a defined contribution for healthcare expenses; [2] Allow workers to use HRA funds to purchase health coverage on the individual market and for qualified out-of-pocket medical expenses if the employee has qualified health coverage; and [3] protect employers from being financially penalized for providing this cost-sharing option to employees."

Government Shutdown Wouldn't Stop Obamacare

"Congressional Republicans are debating whether to pass budget legislation that would cut off Obamacare funding. That could lead to a government shutdown, unless President Obama decided to sign off on a bill cutting off money for his signature legislative accomplishment (spoiler alert: This is unlikely!). So, let's make the relatively bulletproof assumption that the White House isn't on board with defunding Obamacare. The shutdown happens. And Obamacare implementation ... well, it continues."