Private Pensions:
Risks to Retirees Posed by Insurance Company Failures
T-HRD-91-23: Published: Apr 30, 1991. Publicly Released: Apr 30, 1991.
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GAO discussed: (1) risks pensioners faced when their defined benefit plans purchased insurance annuities that are not federally insured; (2) how insurance industry problems affected participants in defined contribution plans; and (3) issues associated with extending federal guarantees to insurance annuitants. GAO noted that: (1) defined benefit plan pensioners whose plans purchased insurance annuities for them lost the federal guarantees they had from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and gained coverage from state life insurance guarantee law; (2) many state laws only covered a small portion of benefits; (3) insurance industry problems adversely affected retirees and participants in defined contribution plans where PBGC had not guaranteed their benefits; (4) 3 million to 4 million retirees and their survivors received annuities purchased by their pension plans from life insurance companies; (5) varying state coverage inadequately protected some retiree annuitants; (6) there was no statutory requirement to ensure that benefit plan administrators considered the availability of state guarantees when they bought annuities; (7) industry and government sources indicated that, to date, no retiree had lost benefits due to an insurance company failure; and (8) if Congress wants to extend federal protections to retiree annuitants, it must consider numerous funding and administrative issues.
Jun 4, 2018
Central States Pension Fund:
Department of Labor Activities under the Consent Decree and Federal LawGAO-18-105: Published: Jun 4, 2018. Publicly Released: Jun 4, 2018.-
Central States Pension Fund:
Investment Policy Decisions and Challenges Facing the PlanGAO-18-106: Published: Jun 4, 2018. Publicly Released: Jun 4, 2018.
May 22, 2018
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Retirement Plan Investing:
Clearer Information on Consideration of Environmental Social and Governance Factors Would Be HelpfulGAO-18-398: Published: May 22, 2018. Publicly Released: May 22, 2018.
May 21, 2018
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Railroad Retirement Board:
Additional Controls and Oversight of Financial Interchange Transfers NeededGAO-18-323: Published: Apr 19, 2018. Publicly Released: May 21, 2018.
May 17, 2018
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Social Security Administration:
Observations on Use and Costs of Social Security CardsGAO-18-507T: Published: May 17, 2018. Publicly Released: May 17, 2018.
Mar 7, 2018
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Social Security Administration:
Continuing Leadership Focus Needed to Modernize How SSA Does BusinessGAO-18-432T: Published: Mar 7, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 7, 2018.
Mar 5, 2018
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Workplace Retirement Accounts:
Better Guidance and Information Could Help Plan Participants at Home and Abroad Manage Their Retirement SavingsGAO-18-19: Published: Jan 31, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 5, 2018.
Feb 21, 2018
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Railroad Retirement Board:
Actions Needed to Improve the Effectiveness and Oversight of Continuing Disability ReviewsGAO-18-287: Published: Feb 21, 2018. Publicly Released: Feb 21, 2018.
Jan 8, 2018
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Social Security Disability:
Additional Measures and Evaluation Needed to Enhance Accuracy and Consistency of Hearings DecisionsGAO-18-37: Published: Dec 7, 2017. Publicly Released: Jan 8, 2018.
Oct 18, 2017
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The Nation's Retirement System:
A Comprehensive Re-evaluation Is Needed to Better Promote Future Retirement SecurityGAO-18-111SP: Published: Oct 18, 2017. Publicly Released: Oct 18, 2017.
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