Word: accountability
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...have even peeked at your account statements in the past year, it's painfully obvious that something is wrong with the way we save. The tax-deferred 401(k) plan, and others like it, such as the 403(b) and the IRA, have become our nation's go-to retirement piggy bank. Invented nearly 30 years ago as an executive perk - one more way to dodge Uncle Sam - the 401(k) was never meant to replace the employer-guaranteed pension fund, supplemented by Social Security, as the cornerstone of our nation's retirement system. But propelled by a combination...
...retirement. A 401(k) is usually a central part of those plans. Even for people who don't have enough money to send their kids to college or buy a home, building their 401(k), they are told, is their first priority. It's not terrible advice. The accounts grow tax-free, though you have to pay Uncle Sam's levy when you cash out. Unlike health coverage, you don't lose your 401(k) when you lose your job. And once you set the account up - a minor task at most companies - it's automatic, making it an easy...
...High interest rates in the inflationary 1970s produced solid returns for Oxy's bond-heavy pension fund - so much so that Oxy's accountants figured the plan was overfunded by $600 million. For Oxy to get at that cash, pension laws required it to close its fund and start again. It did so with a far cheaper option: the employee-funded 401(k). The company made it clear that with the high interest rates at the time, Oxy employees could see their 401(k) account balances soar with little risk. Few doubted it - Oxy, like most other big companies...
...hand on" and then asks for "Status Of Job You Into." Less blatant red flags include e-mail addresses with domains like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! and Rediffmail (an Indian outfit) - most legitimate hirers have e-mail addresses from their companies. A company or recruiter that asks for your bank account or credit-card number is a huge warning sign. True, plenty of companies use bank information for direct-deposit paychecks - but that comes after you're hired...
...snagged. Jay Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center, is working with a man who took what he thought was a job as a mystery shopper for Western Union. After answering an ad on Craigslist, he received a $3,500 check, which he deposited into his bank account. He then went to Western Union to wire the money and observe the quality of customer service. The man was cautious - he waited for the check to clear first. Only later did he find out that while the check was written on a real account, it wasn't authorized...