Insurance Company Failures Threaten Retirement Income
T-HRD-91-41: Published: Jun 27, 1991. Publicly Released: Jun 27, 1991.
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GAO discussed the impact of insurance company failures on pension plan incomes, focusing on what happens when pension plans purchase insurance annuities and invest funds through insurance companies. GAO noted that: (1) pension plans have purchased annuities for 3 million to 4 million retirees and have invested about a third of all pension assets with insurance companies; (2) between January 1975 and December 1990, 170 life insurance companies failed, with 40 percent of failures occurring during 1989 and 1990; (3) despite the presence of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), which guarantees defined benefit plans but not defined contribution plans, and a network of state insurance guaranty associations, some pensioners risk losing some retirement income in the case of an insurance company insolvency; (4) pensioners are not always informed that, when pension plans purchase insurance company annuities, PBGC protection ends; (5) insurance guaranty laws among states varied in terms of coverage, limitations, and restrictions, exposing some pensioners to the risk of losing a portion of their annuity in the case of insurance company insolvency; (6) none of the state guaranty laws required maintenance of reserve funds, and the failure of a large insurance company could strain resources and result in delays in pension payments; (7) state guaranty associations generally did not cover investment losses experienced by defined benefit plans; and (8) PBGC determined that it lacked authority to guarantee annuities purchased from an insurance company to satisfy pension obligations to retirees.
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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