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.
Oct 30, 2020
Retirement Security:
Other Countries' Experiences with Caregiver PoliciesGAO-20-623: Published: Sep 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 30, 2020.
Sep 24, 2020
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Retirement Security:
Older Women Report Facing a Financially Uncertain FutureGAO-20-718T: Published: Sep 24, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 24, 2020.
Aug 28, 2020
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Retirement Security:
DOL Could Better Inform Divorcing Parties About Dividing SavingsGAO-20-541: Published: Jul 31, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 28, 2020.
Aug 13, 2020
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Retirement Security:
Older Women Report Facing a Financially Uncertain FutureGAO-20-435: Published: Jul 14, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 13, 2020.
Jun 16, 2020
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Retirement Security:
BLS Should Explore Ways to Improve the Accuracy, Timeliness, and Relevance of Its Cost-of-Living MeasurementsGAO-20-422: Published: Jun 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 2020.
Feb 27, 2020
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Private Pensions:
IRS and DOL Should Strengthen Oversight of Executive Retirement PlansGAO-20-70: Published: Jan 28, 2020. Publicly Released: Feb 27, 2020.
Jan 9, 2020
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Social Security Disability:
Action Needed to Help Agency Staff Understand and Follow Policies Related to Prescription Opioid MisuseGAO-20-120: Published: Jan 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 9, 2020.
Dec 18, 2019
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Capitol Police:
Potential Effects of Raising the Mandatory Retirement AgeGAO-20-137R: Published: Dec 18, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 18, 2019. -
Millennial Generation:
Information on the Economic Status of Millennial Households Compared to Previous GenerationsGAO-20-194: Published: Dec 13, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 18, 2019.
Oct 21, 2019
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Military Pensions:
Servicemembers Need Better Information to Support Retirement Savings DecisionsGAO-19-631: Published: Sep 19, 2019. Publicly Released: Oct 21, 2019.
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