Free Republic

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger celebrated when the California Transportation Commission voted, despite a host of warnings, to pay a contractor more than $1 billion to build two tunnels and a stretch of road outside San Francisco nine years ago. Schwarzenegger said the project’s new approach, which aimed to cap public expenses and shift responsibility to the private sector, would serve as a “shining example” of an innovative way to improve the state’s highways while saving taxpayer dollars. Now the project, known as the Presidio Parkway, is more than two years late and $208 million over budget. When the commission approved...

You would think that the roles and responsibilities would be clear and there would be a strong line between individuals who call themselves financial advisers and those who call themselves stock brokers. The obvious answer is that advisers give impartial advice based on the best interest of the client and brokers sell products as a third party. Advisers are sworn to put their clients’ interests ahead of their own, thanks to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. In that case, what is a broker? The act also provides this definition. A broker is, “Any person engaged in the business of...

Annuities: The official retirement vehicle of the Obama administration. As slogans go, it’s hardly “Keep Hope Alive,” or even “Change We Can Believe In.” But there were annuities, in a report from the administration’s Middle Class Task Force that came out this week. They are among the tools the administration is promoting as it tries to give Americans a better shot at a more secure retirement. At its simplest, which is how the White House seems to want to keep it, an annuity is something you buy with a large pile of cash in exchange for a monthly check for...

Has anyone here completed the transfer as noted above, e.g. transferred their 401K or 403b funds to an annuity with an insurance company, avoiding tax? If yes, I would think that doing that now would be bad timing, given the low rate environment, correct? Any thoughts on this subject would be appreciated. I'm starting to look into options - thinking - fixed-rate for life - joint lives annuity.

Immediate annuities promise that your money will be there when you need it. But many investors are questioning how good those guarantees really are. The reality is that insurance companies offering annuities can, and have, failed. But policyholders can take comfort from a well-established, industry-financed safety net. Although investments aren't always covered in full, history suggests these annuities are about as safe an investment as you can get without the full backing of the U.S. government. That said, there's no reason to court trouble. The current environment shows why -- even in good times -- investors should seek out the...

Funds worth trillions of dollars start to plummet in value. Political pressure to be “socially responsible” distorts the market decisions of government-related enterprises, leading to risky investments. Investors who once considered their retirements safely protectedwake up to a sinking feeling of uncertainty and gloom.Sound like the great mortgage-fueled financial crisis of 2008? Sure. But it also describes a calamity likely to hit as soon as 2009. State, local, and private pension plans covering millions of government employees and union workers with “defined benefit” accounts are teetering on the brink of implosion, victims of both a sinking stock market and investment...

As of June 25, 2008 report from SEC, www.SEC.gov/news/speech/2008/spch062508cc_annuity.htm "…Equity indexed annuities [fixed index annuities] are investments that insurance companies sell to the public. They were first introduced about 13 years ago, around 1995. They gained ground and grew significantly over the years — in 2004 alone, for example, sales of equity indexed annuities increased over 50 percent, from $14 billion in 2003 to about $22 billion in 2004. In 2007, indexed annuity sales were nearly $25 billion. Today, over $123 billion is invested in indexed annuities…. Today, in 2008, the cause for concern seems greater than ever. Recently, Dateline...

Bill Would Help Retirees Get a 'Paycheck for Life' (CNSNews.com) - Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) has re-introduced a bill intended to help middle-class Americans make their retirement income last for their rest of their lives. The Retirement Security for Life Act of 2007 (S. 1010) amends the tax code to encourage the purchase of annuities - investment vehicles that provide guaranteed lifetime income. Under the proposal, individuals would get a federal tax break on up to $20,000 of the annual income generated by annuities that promise lifetime payments. An average taxpayer in the 25 percent tax bracket would get a...

Warnings of a financial crisis in the nation's worker pensions system are overstated, an industry group said Friday as Congress prepared legislation to overhaul the system to protect future retirees' benefits. The liabilities of the federal agency that guarantees worker pensions, estimated at $23.3 billion at the end of 2004, are inflated by excessively low interest rate assumptions and overly conservative investment strategies, according to a report prepared for the American Benefits Council, which represents companies with defined benefit pension plans. There's no dispute that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has inherited large liabilities in recent years and a change...

Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Retired and Annuitant Pay is working closely with national and regional banking and credit union organizations as well as the military services to make certain customers affected by Hurricane Katrina have timely and ready access to their pay.   DFAS officials explained that it is essential that military retirees and annuitants, who have relocated or changed their banking information, to contact DFAS Retired and Annuity Pay in one of the following ways:* Call 1-800-321-1080 Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. (Eastern).  Please have current address, banking data and beneficiary information available when you call;* Use...