Archives for August 2021

Worried about saving enough for retirement? You’re not alone!

Are you saving enough for retirement? Maybe the question nags at you; maybe you wish you thought about it more.

Maybe you have it all figured it out, and planning for retirement is a breeze.

Data tells us it’s a real mixed bag when it comes to how federal employees are feeling about their financial readiness ahead of retirement.

About 60% of Thrift Savings Plan participants are confident they’re saving or have saved enough to live comfortably in retirement, according to a recent Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board survey.

That’s slightly worse than the 69% of American workers who said they were confident about their retirement savings in a 2020 survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

No surprise, feds who are later in their careers or who have stopped working altogether feel more confident about where they are than their younger colleagues.

About 59% of actively working feds are comfortable with their retirement savings, compared to 76% of former feds actually living through retirement, according to the TSP.

But just under half of TSP participants, about 48%, say they have an idea how much they’ll need to live comfortably in retirement, with one-third of current retirees and 40% of late-career feds without a clear sense of what they’ll need to live on after they stop working.

According to the TSP, most feds are more likely to think about their savings in terms of a monthly income they believe they’ll need in retirement, while younger employees more often think about a total dollar amount.

The FRTIB conducted this survey last fall, after much of the stock market volatility subsided and living through the pandemic became the new normal. The agency only surveyed its participants in the Federal Employees Retirement System; military members in the blended retirement system did not answer these questions.

What’s keeping feds up at night as they think about planning and saving for retirement? Most active and retired employees are worried they simply haven’t saved enough, or they’re concerned they’ll outlive their retirement savings.

Some said they see their debt or living expenses as a top reason for worrying about their financial readiness in retirement.

TSP participants said their mortgage or rent expenses, personal debt and student loans were all top reasons why they weren’t saving as much as they would like for retirement.

Beyond the TSP and Social Security, no surprise, most feds envision their their FERS annuity and pension as a key source of income in retirement, but 48% have private savings and investments and 35% have stock holdings and retirement investments from another employer.

A clear majority, or 87% of feds, say they plan or already have sources of retirement income other than their government benefits.

When it comes to how feds plan for retirement, 33% say they’re on their own, but 33% say they attend TSP webinars or informational sessions hosted by their agencies.

Another 32% said they go to their friends or colleagues for retirement planning advice, while 27% consult a professional financial planner or adviser, according to the TSP.

And in the event of an unexpected emergency, 81% of feds say they have funds set aside to pick up all or some of the costs.

Half of TSP participants say they have enough savings to handle an unexpected one time expense of $5,000 or more, without taking out a loan, using a credit card or otherwise borrowing to pay for it.

Those with an emergency fund are twice as likely to be at least somewhat confident in their retirement savings, according to the TSP.

Here’s the good news: A majority of feds in the event of — let’s face it — another government shutdown, pandemic or some other unexpected event, have some savings set aside to at least partially handle the fallout.

But put another way, nearly one in five federal employees do not.

Overall, 55% of surveyed TSP participants say they’re satisfied with their financial wellbeing at this point in their careers. That’s better than the private sector, where 43% of U.S. workers are satisfied with their finances, according to the 2020 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey from Willis Towers Watson.

Again, late career employees and separated or retired feds are more satisfied with their finances compared to their younger colleagues.

Interestingly enough, feds are more satisfied with their overall financial wellness than they are with their confidence in planning for retirement.

Now that you have a glimpse of how your peers are feeling, how do you stack up?

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Alazar Moges

The highest the price for gasoline reached in the United States was on July 17, 2008 when the average national cost for a gallon was $4.114.

Source: AAA

US case against Huawei CFO ‘flawed,’ her lawyers say

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Lawyers for a senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies attacked the case against her as “fatally flawed” and full of “shifting theories” during an extradition hearing Friday.

Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder and the company’s chief financial officer, at Vancouver’s airport in late 2018. The U.S. wants her extradited to face fraud charges. Her arrest infuriated Beijing, which sees her case as a political move designed to prevent China’s rise.

The U.S. accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company called Skycom to sell equipment to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. It says Meng, 49, committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about the company’s business dealings in Iran.

The lengthy extradition proceeding is entering the committal phase which involves arguments over the U.S. government’s request to extradite Meng.

Defense lawyer Eric Gottardi said fraud cases are normally straightforward, with a lie being told that results in someone losing money.

“This case is different,” he said. “The alleged deception is ambiguous at best. The risk of economic loss to the alleged victim HSBC is wholly illusionary.”

The shifting theories put forward by the U.S. “underscores the weakness of their case,” he said.

“There is no actual loss in this case. None of the requesting states theories of risk of loss pass muster. They all are either non-existent or entirely speculative.”

The threshold for granting an extradition might not be high but “it is a meaningful threshold,” said Gottardi.

“A requesting state requires a plausible case. Here we say the case falls far short.”

Gottardi disputed claims by Canadian government lawyers that during a meeting with an HSBC official Meng was dishonest in not disclosing Huawei’s relationship with Skycom and that put the bank at risk of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran.

“There is no evidence Ms. Meng’s representation caused HSBC to violate any US sanctions law,” he said. “In any event HSBC was not exposed to any real risk to criminal or civil liability.”

It was HSBC’s choice to take money deposited by Skycom and clear it through the U.S.

“The fact HSBC chose to clear US dollar transactions through it’s U.S. subsidiary . . . cannot be blamed on Ms. Meng,” Gottardi said.

Frank Addario, another member of the defense team, said during the meeting Meng never denied Huawei and Skycom “work closely together in Iran.”

She also denied allegations made in a news story that Huawei was involved in selling embargoed equipment.

“There is no zero evidence that either Skycom or Huawei violated U.S. sanctions laws respecting Iran,” he said.

Meng, who attended court wearing an electronic monitoring device on her ankle, followed the proceedings through a translator.

Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes isn’t expected to rule on Meng’s extradition until later in the year. Whatever her decision, it will likely be appealed.

Earlier this week a Chinese court sentenced Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for spying.

Spavor and fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig were arrested in December of 2018 in apparent retaliation to Meng’s arrest.

The Chinese government has released few details other than to accuse Spavor of passing along sensitive information to Kovrig, beginning in 2017. Both have been held in isolation and have little contact with Canadian diplomats.

In another case, the Higher People’s Court of Liaoning province in the northeast rejected an appeal by Canadian Robert Schellenberg, whose 15-year prison term on drug smuggling charges was increased to death in January 2019 following Meng’s arrest.

Meng remains free on bail in Vancouver and is living in a mansion.

Copyright
© 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

Millions stolen from health fund spent at adult website

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A former accounts manager for a nonprofit affiliated with the University of South Florida’s medical school has pleaded guilty to embezzling almost $13 million, spending most of it at an adult website with some of it coming back to him.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that Ralph Puglisi, 59, is facing up to 20 years in prison under the deal, which was recently filed in Tampa’s federal court. Puglisi had worked for the University Medical Service Association, which provides staffing and support for USF Health and other medical providers in the Tampa Bay area.

According to court documents, Puglisi spent almost $12 million at an adult website that allows users to subscribe to channels belonging to specific women, who disrobe and engage in sex acts on live video.

An investigation showed that Puglisi subscribed to a channel belonging to his stepson’s fiancee and they split almost $750,000 in profits, with Puglisi taking 60%.

“The investigative team developed a working theory that Puglisi worked either with the principals of the adult content provider, or with the female profiles of the adult content provider in order to financially benefit from funds charged,” prosecutors wrote.

The Times says Puglisi also is accused of making $647,000 in payments to a limited liability company he owned with his wife, plus other expenditures, including: $374,000 for personal travel; $191,000 in rent for a family member; and $120,000 on household improvements.

The fraud was detected in November, leading to the firing of Puglisi, his boss and University Medical Service Association’s internal auditor.

In a statement, USF said UMSA has “implemented enhanced control structures, including upgrading financial reporting systems, to better protect against criminal acts.” The university has sued Puglisi and has filed an injunction prohibiting him from selling any property purchased with the embezzled funds.

Puglisi attorney Anthony Rickman said in a statement that his client is cooperating and is taking steps to make restitution.

Copyright
© 2021 . All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

Prominent fact-checker Snopes apologizes for plagiarism

NEW YORK (AP) — The co-founder and CEO of the fact-checking site Snopes.com has acknowledged plagiarizing from dozens of articles done by mainstream news outlets over several years, calling the appropriations “serious lapses in judgment.”

From 2015 to 2019 — and possibly even earlier — David Mikkelson included material lifted from the Los Angeles Times, The Guardian and others to scoop up web traffic, according to BuzzFeed News, which broke the story Friday.

Mikkelson used his own name, a generic Snopes byline and a pseudonym when he lifted material, including single sentences and whole paragraphs on such subjects as same-sex marriage and the death of David Bowie, without citing the sources, BuzzFeed and Snopes said.

He has been suspended from editorial production pending the conclusion of an internal review but remains CEO and a 50% shareholder in the company, according to a statement from Snopes’ senior leadership.

“Let us be clear: Plagiarism undermines our mission and values, full stop. It has no place in any context within this organization,” the statement said.

In a separate statement, eight current Snopes writers also condemned Mikkelson’s actions, while former staffers indicated to BuzzFeed that he routinely encouraged the practice as a way to make Snopes appear faster than it was.

Mikkelson did not immediately return an Associated Press email seeking comment Saturday. He told BuzzFeed his behavior was due to a lack of formal journalism experience.

“I didn’t come from a journalism background,” he said. “I wasn’t used to doing news aggregation. A number of times I crossed the line to where it was copyright infringement. I own that.”

Created in 1994 under a different name by Mikkelson and his then-wife, Barbara Hamel, Snopes has earned two Webby Awards and served as one of Facebook’s fact-checking partners between December 2016 and February 2019, BuzzFeed News said. In recent years, the site has been the focus of a contentious ownership battle between Mikkelson and the company that bought Hamel’s shares.

BuzzFeed News flagged stories from a range of outlets that also include The New York Times, CNN, NBC News and the BBC. Six were originally published under the Mikkelson pseudonym Jeff Zarronandia, three under Mikkelson’s name and the rest as “Snopes staff.” Snopes said it has identified 140 stories with possible problems, including the 54 found to include appropriated material.

Snopes also cited AP material that wasn’t properly attributed. It did not specify which stories.

Senior management said in the statement that Snopes was removing unattributed content while leaving up individual pages. An editor’s note will be used to outline the issues and link to original sources.

“We are in the process of archiving and retracting all of the offending stories, along with disabling any monetization features on those posts,” the statement said. “We will attempt to contact each news outlet whose reporting we appropriated to issue an apology.”

Canadian justice lawyer says Huawei CFO was dishonest

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The dishonesty of a senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies put a bank at risk of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, a Canadian justice department lawyer told an extradition hearing Thursday.

The lengthy extradition proceeding is entering a phase which involves arguments over the U.S. government’s request to extradite Meng.

Justice department lawyer Robert Frater said Meng was dishonest about Huawei’s relationship with Skycom during a meeting with a HSBC executive.

“By not being honest and withholding information, HSBC was deprived of the opportunity to protect itself,” said Frater.

After the meeting, HSBC made money transfers involving Skycom which could have caused the bank a liability, Frater said.

“Given that Huawei was Skycom, the activities of Skycom and Huawei posed an actual real risk to HSBC of violating US sanctions on Iran,” he said.

Frater presented case law that says even if there is not a financial loss, fraud can still occur when an institution like HSBC is persuaded to continue to provide services it might have refused had it known all the facts.

In wrapping up his submission, Frater said he disagreed with Meng’s defense team that the case against her was unique, unprecedented and a legal stretch.

The defense will begin its arguments against the extradition Friday.

Meng, who attended court wearing an electronic monitoring device on her ankle, followed the proceedings through a translator.

The judge isn’t expected to rule on Meng’s extradition until later in the year. Whatever her decision, it will likely be appealed.

Meng’s lawyers have denied any dishonestly on her part. They also argue HSBC was not placed at any risk and the charges against her are politically motivated.

On Tuesday a Chinese court sentenced Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for spying.

Spavor and fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig were arrested in December of 2018 in apparent retaliation to Meng’s arrest.

Meng remains free on bail in Vancouver and is living in a mansion.

Canada and other countries, including Australia and the Philippines, face trade boycotts and other Chinese pressure in disputes with Beijing over human rights, the coronavirus and control of the South China Sea.

China has tried to pressure Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government by imposing restrictions on imports of canola seed oil and other products from Canada.

Archives for August 2021

Nearly Useless Factoid

Footer