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Open Recommendations

Retirement Plans: Department of Labor Guidance Could Mitigate Privacy Risks for Participants
GAO-26-107271
Mar 30, 2026
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Labor The Secretary of Labor should provide additional guidance about participant data privacy for retirement plan sponsors and service providers. In particular, the Secretary should clarify what participant information should be considered private and the circumstances in which service providers should obtain written permission before using or sharing this information. Such guidance could also identify best practices including for providing individual participants with choice, to the extent practicable, about how their personal information may be used, sold, or shared. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Social Security Death Data: Do Not Pay System Has Yielded Financial Benefits, but SSA Should Better Evaluate States’ Cost to Obtain Data
GAO-26-107181
Feb 12, 2026
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Social Security Administration The SSA Commissioner should ensure that contracts for state death data reflect statutorily authorized costs and include necessary documentation required by law. (Recommendation 1)
Open
The Social Security Administration agreed with this recommendation. We will update the status of the recommendation when we receive additional information.
Social Security Administration The SSA Commissioner should ensure that SSA conducts an analysis of state cost information, including its availability, and determine whether renegotiating the fee schedule for state death data is necessary to ensure that prices reflect statutorily authorized costs. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Social Security Administration agreed with this recommendation. We will update the status of the recommendation when we receive additional information.
Social Security Administration The SSA Commissioner should ensure that SSA revises its methodology for allocating costs to obtain state death data to incorporate costs for calculating proportional shares of state death data costs. (Recommendation 3)
Open
The Social Security Administrations agreed with this recommendation. We will update the status of the recommendation when we receive additional information.

Military Financial Education: DOD Should Improve Oversight to Ensure Trainings Effectively Support Service Members
GAO-25-107666
Apr 08, 2025
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should take additional steps to ensure the military services modify administrative systems to increase the accuracy of tracking service member completion of the financial readiness common military training. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOD agreed with this recommendation. As of June 2025, DOD reported that it has asked the military services to include additional information about their tracking systems and training completion data in their annual financial readiness training plans. DOD will use this information to determine the status of tracking systems and develop an action plan. DOD anticipates full implementation of changes will be a multi-year effort. We will monitor DOD's efforts and will consider closing this recommendation once DOD has demonstrated that the military services have modified their administrative systems and increased the accuracy of tracking training completion.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure the military services identify and address causes of financial readiness common military training non-completion. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DOD agreed with this recommendation. In June 2025, DOD reported that it has requested that the military services provide additional information about causes of training non-completion in their annual financial readiness training plans. DOD will use this information to create an action plan. We will consider closing this recommendation once DOD has demonstrated that the military services have identified and addressed causes of training non-completion.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should establish a timeline for determining which standardized performance measures, if any, are needed to measure the effectiveness of DOD's financial education efforts. If any performance measures are selected, DOD should also establish a timeline to implement those measures. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DOD agreed with this recommendation. In June 2025, DOD reported that it plans to establish performance measures and the timeline for doing so will be developed based on feedback from the military services due in August 2025. We will consider closing this recommendation once DOD has demonstrated that it has established a timeline for implementing any new performance measures.

Retirement Investments: Agencies Can Better Oversee Conflicts of Interest Between Fiduciaries and Investors
GAO-24-104632
Aug 28, 2024
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of the IRS should develop and implement a process independent of DOL referrals for identifying non-exempt prohibited transactions involving firms or financial professionals who are fiduciaries to IRAs and assessing applicable excise taxes. For example, IRS could check Form 5330 filing compliance during income tax audits of financial services firms. (Recommendation 1)
Open
IRS agreed with this recommendation and stated that it would examine the processes and consider implementing additional measures to identify prohibited transactions as appropriate. As of February 2026, we await progress on these efforts.
Internal Revenue Service The Commissioner of the IRS should coordinate with DOL through a formal means, such as a memorandum of understanding, on non-exempt prohibited transactions involving firms and financial professionals who are IRA fiduciaries and owe excise tax. (Recommendation 2)
Open
IRS agreed with this recommendation. IRS stated it will explore opportunities to develop more formal means for coordination between IRS and DOL for prohibited transactions related to investment advice provided to IRA owners from financial services firms. As of February 2026, we await progress on these efforts.
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