Recent Posts

Posted in Ethics & Compliance Recent Posts

Is your 401k under a withdrawal restriction right now?

Is your 401k under a withdrawal restriction right now? This website was born over a decade ago under a necessity to warn other 401k investors of the scandals perpetrated by the Principal Group of Companies. Millions of investors lost 50% or more of their 401k savings when Principal initiated a withdrawal…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

The United States attorney general, a sheep in wolf’s clothing?

The United States attorney general should prosecute Companies like Principal Financial Services who bilked billions of dollars from 401k retirement investors prior to and during the 2008 financial crisis. Toxic assets and financial reporting fraud earmarked the collapse.  Curating the internet provides even the casual observer a wealth of information on…

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Why Judges lie... to protect the guilty.
Posted in Ethics & Compliance Recent Posts Regulations

Judges lie to protect the guilty…

A couple years ago, I published a post that discusses “What happens when a Judge lies…”   Recently, I uncovered the fact that a District Court Judge in Iowa wrongfully changed a second degree kidnapping with a dangerous weapon charge to a lesser charge so he could turn the criminal loose…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Recent Posts Regulations

Deferred Judgment Sentence for violent crime in Iowa is legal?

Most states  only permit the use of the deferred adjudication program as a rehabilitative measure for certain non-violent misdemeanor offenses.  Iowa is no different.  Iowa criminal law clearly states kidnapping is considered a felony.  Period.  Pull a gun on your victim, and it becomes a violent crime, a second degree…

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Posted in cyber-security Pooled Separate Account Recent Posts Your 401(k)

Why your 401k is a fiduciary risk

Once again, we are on a rollercoaster of new “fiduciary rules” propagated by the Department of Labor.  If we didn’t know better, we could conclude from all this fiduciary bullshit that the DOL actually cared about your future.  Make no mistake, nothing could be further from the truth!  Nobody in…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Three Coconut Creek properties involved in possible securities fraud…

Three commercial buildings in Coconut Creek, Florida… all purchased in 2008 by Principal Life Insurance Company for the Principal U.S. Property Separate Account, a 401k retirement separate account, had been bundled in commercial mortgage backed securities prior to the time of purchase.  Managed by Principal Real Estate Investors of Des…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Rolling the dice with your Fidelity account…

Are you rolling the dice with your Fidelity account? Recently, I published a post about a data breach on my Fidelity investment account. For me, the data breach experience was pure Hell. The following is a timeline of the events leading up to, and following the breach: July 11, 2023……

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Posted in cyber-security Recent Posts

Fidelity, Fraud, and your 401k

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Posted in Recent Posts

Greenwashing your pension plan …

Greenwashing your pension plan, then selling out employee pension plans to insurance companies, is fast becoming big business. As recipients of billions of dollars in pension funds annually, these 401k plan raiders build their revenues by raping the future retirements of hard working Americans, literally. Recently, yet another major corporation…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Pooled Separate Account Recent Posts

Corruption in China… a bust for your 401k?

It is a well known fact that doing business with Chinese Banks has it’s issues. Last year one of the world’s largest banks, HSBC, agreed to the Chinese Communist Party requirement that creating an internal Communist Party committee could be the cost of doing business in China. Despite China’s harsh…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Recent Posts Your 401(k)

Risk vs. Reward in your 401k

Investing often involves taking risks… risk a loss to make a profit. An axiom of a successful investor is that you can make money and transfer the risk. This would be considered a pure form of profiting without risk. When you opened your 401k savings plan, you understood the risks….

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Pooled Separate Account Recent Posts Regulations Your 401(k)

Principal welcomes China as Partner

Lets look at the facts… Principal has enjoyed a cozy relationship with “less than stellar” foreign governments for years. So hanging out with the Chinese should come as no surprise. Now Principal welcomes China as a partner in crime, but I have never figured out why the close relationship the…

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Posted in Recent Posts Your 401(k)

Principal and China… a failing diplomacy?

Principal and China… a failing diplomacy… recently China released a spy balloon over the United States to obtain surveillance data by breaching US air space. These actions added to a growing concern that China has been purchasing millions of acres of farm land throughout Western US and can potentially take…

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Posted in Recent Posts Regulations Your 401(k)

401k Savings Slashed in 2022!

The future may be bleak for 401k savers. 401k Specialist headlined that 401k Savings Slashed in 2022! The article reported recently that over 80% of Americans halted or withdrew from retirement savings in 2022. That is a huge problem at a time when our future economy looks bleak anyway. For…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Recent Posts Regulations Your 401(k)

SEC tells Wells Fargo to stop cheating 401k investors

When you read published accounts of SEC causes of actions against companies like Wells Fargo Bank, you should assume they are guilty of those infractions, even though they may not be required to admit to their so-called “misconduct.” While reporting on these actions, the SEC will often “soft sell” the…

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Posted in Recent Posts Regulations

Is Principal Financial a 401k Plan Fiduciary?

Is Principal Financial a 401k Fiduciary? This question begs an answer… and we may finally have the truth, thanks to the Eighth Circuit Court in St. Louis that reversed a ruling by Southern District Court Judge Jarvey in Des Moines, Iowa. Jarvey has been an advocate of finding reasons why…

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Posted in Recent Posts Your 401(k)

The $80 Trillion Hidden Debt

This week, the evening news “overlooked” a significant news story… the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), considered by many as the “central bank to the world’s central banks, reported that “Pension funds and other ‘non-bank’ financial firms have more than $80 trillion of hidden, off-balance sheet dollar debt…” The hidden…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Recent Posts

ESG 401k Investing… A Breeding Ground for Corruption?

A lot of information has been focused on ESG investing and State pension plans in recent weeks, and the Department of Labor’s recent decision to continue the use of ESG’s in 401k plans, albeit under closer scrutiny. For readers that are not familiar with ESG investing, the acronym stands for…

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Posted in Recent Posts Regulations

What if your 401k plan is frozen tomorrow?

This possibility is a scary thought. As a saver and an investor, you want to own control of your future… you want, and have earned, the guarantee from your Plan Provider that the investment options he has provided you are safe and will earn enough money to adequately provide for…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Group of Companies and their Russian ties….

While you may “think” your funds are invested in actual stocks and other securities, often they are not. The fact is that when Principal receives your 401k payroll deduction, you own nothing. The percentage of your salary deducted for your 401k investments are actually used to pay a premium, not…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Did Principal rip off their own employees… again??

Did Principal rip off their own employees? Apparently at least one employee thinks they did… David Hastings is following the same path another concerned employee followed a few years back. That employee netted $11 million for himself and his coworkers. Meanwhile, Hastings is bringing this class action “on behalf of…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Bullshit and your 401k Plan…

Bullshit and your 401k Plan… While Corporate Sustainability sounds like an impressive approach to retain value for shareholders, could it also be a pile of bullshit sold to unsuspecting 401k investors? According to Wikipedia, Corporate Sustainability is an approach aiming to create long-term stakeholder value through the implementation of a…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Brazilian’s saving with Principal… broken promises

If we think times are tough here in the US, consider the following. Brazilian’s saving with Principal were locked out… literally. All the accounts were frozen, with no money going in and promises broken As one Brazilian stated, they were stripped of their entire savings in one fell swoop. My…

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Posted in Recent Posts

What happens when a judge lies?

As a Blogger that has followed, and continues to follow, for years the trail of tears Principal Financial Services has left as they plundered and ravaged the 401k retirement savings of millions of investors, the same age old question always pre-occupied my thoughts….What happens when a judge lies? I wonder…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Hedge Funds and your 401(k) portfolio

As 401(k) investors, you have a multitude of investment options.  Carefully disguised hedge funds are often offered as insurance company separate accounts in a 401(k) plan, although you may not realize it.  Your next question is probably, “what is a hedge fund?”  The words are bantered around with industry professionals, but…

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Posted in Recent Posts

David J. Hastings v. Principal Life Insurance Company, etal

Recently, the Principal Life Insurance Company hit another snag in their “Fiduciary” status. Another class action lawsuit was filed by Principal employees, this time entitled David Hastings V. Principal Life Insurance Company, etal. Once again, the litigation was based on excessive fees and poor performance. And like a few years…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The DOL’s Fiduciary Rule… a Bloodbath for your 401k

Recently, I read a news article about certain special interest groups that want to “criminalize” fake news. No, NOT the fake news we have been reading and listening to for the past four years… this “fake news” is much more sinister! Their plan involves making it a crime to “oppose”…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Annuities and your 401k

What is an Annuity? For the past decade, I have been reporting the corruption found with insurance companies and annuities, focused on the risks of 401k Group Variable Annuities. With that said, there are a wide variety of annuity products, and I found the following article that defines most annuity…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Self Dealing your 401k… Principal-owned companies

Self Dealing your 401k … recently I decided to complete a tally of the subsidiaries owned by Principal… below is a partial list… they also own another 14 “boutique” financial firms, including a company called Finisterre somewhere in France. These are companies that Principal is doing business with to promote…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Safe Harbor and your 401k Plan

Safe Harbor and your 401k Plan… in recent years, employers (and employees) have been bombarded by politicians and Wall Street trying to convince working Americans to invest in a 401k plan at their workplace. According to the American Benefits Council, in 2018 there were approximately 80 million active 401k savers,…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Phantom stock… a new way to steal from 401k investors?

Phantom stock, few of us have ever heard the term, let alone understand it’s application in the world of finance. Wikipedia defines the term as follows: Phantom stock is a contractual agreement between a corporation and recipients of phantom shares that bestow upon the grantee the right to a cash payment…

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Posted in Recent Posts

“De-risking” Hedge Funds and your 401k

“De-risking” Hedge Funds… now that the Game Stop fiasco is recent history, the institutional investment community is beginning to “unwind” their short positions, and when they unwind their shorts, they also have to sell off their long trades as well. Hedge funds balance out their short trades with long trades……

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Posted in Recent Posts

Annuities & hedge funds, and your 401k

Annuities & hedge funds, and your 401k… are they a good investment? Few investors fully understand the impact an annuity has on their retirement plan. In fact, the reality is that few 401k savers even realize they own an annuity in their 401k! You are reading this post because you…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Hedge Funds vs. Private Equity… 401k investing at it’s worst.

Hedge funds are alternative investments that use pooled money and a variety of tactics to earn returns for their investors.  A Hedge Fund can also be a securities fund which not only buys stocks for long-term price appreciation but also sells stocks short. The emphasis is on maximizing stock market selection, i.e., buying stocks with above average…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Vetting Your 401k Plan

Vetting Your 401k Plan… This White House Fact Sheet released February 23, 2015 states that conflicted advice leads to, on average, $17 billion in losses every year for working and middle class families.  A recent SEC study reported losses of $1 billion per month for retirement investors.  Where did this…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Life Insurance Company… just say NO!!

Every week I receive a couple emails from 401k plan participants that have Principal Life Insurance Company as their Plan Provider aka Service Provider, and they want out of their agreement. Let’s face it, Principal has proven itself a failure when it comes to providing 401k services. I have posted…

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Posted in Money Laundering

Principal Bank a Shadow Bank?… is the bank legitimate?

Principal Bank a Shadow Bank? Is it a “Shadow Bank,” or does the bank actually exist? If you Google “Principal Bank,” this link will take you to the following narrative as provided by Principal: Carry your search further on the Principal.com website, and the following appears: If you open the…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The 401k Dilemma… Win or lose?

The 401k Dilemma… in recent weeks, I have been receiving more email from readers, asking for advice about what to do with their 401k. I do not give financial advice… I am not a financial advisor, so I usually suggest they sit down with their Plan Sponsor, typically the employer,…

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Posted in Money Laundering

Financial Corruption in the 401k Marketplace

Financial Corruption in the 401k Market. Recently, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) conducted a study of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed with FinCEN over a 10-year period that involved suspected money laundering and related illicit financial activity in the commercial real estate sector.  The study focused on certain trends…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Principal Financial Services cannot be trusted with your 401k savings plan… this article explains why…

Principal Financial Services cannot be trusted with your 401k savings plan…Public Trust is generally used in the context of government relations, but the term also applies to the public’s view of Corporate America.  This Special Report, entitled “The Dynamics of Public Trust in Business—Emerging Opportunities for Leaders,” was first published…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Your 401(k)

Principal’s Zero Risk and Your 401k Plan

Principal’s Zero Risk. Imagine coming home from work one day and telling your wife that you had signed a contract to give 10% of your gross income risk free to a total stranger.  The stranger had no legal obligation to return the money, and in fact, Congress had created a…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Pooled Separate Account

Pooled Separate Accounts… playing by the rules!

There are a number of defined contribution (DC) plans under the definition of IRS rules that encompass a retirement savings protocol… they include not only 401k plans, but also 401a plans, 403 plans, and the like. These plans all try to accomplish the same goal… to not only allow, but…

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Posted in Mortgage Fraud

Principal sells defaulted loans to 401k Pooled Separate Accounts

Principal sells defaulted loans… In a January 31, 2013 Houston based real estate publication called Bisnow, the lead article was entitled “Best Friends:  TCC and PrinREI”.   These acronyms stand for Trammell Crow Company and Principal Real Estate Investors (PREI).  In a later article,  Mark Allyn, TCC’s senior managing director stated,…

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Posted in Your 401(k)

Principal, China and your401k… The Perfect Storm (Part 2 of 2)

In Part 1 published earlier this week, I discuss the profitability struggles most 401k investors have experienced during 2020 with insurance company sponsored variable annuities, when considering a year of growth in registered securities. The Principal group of companies have engaged in an “unholy alliance” with Chinese based companies for…

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Posted in Money Laundering Recent Posts

Principal, China and your 401k… The Perfect Storm (Part 1 of 2)

Principal, China and your 401k. In case you haven’t been watching, your 401k plans have lost at least 7% during the past 12 months, thanks to Congress giving away the “free money” during the pandemic. That’s a huge decline for a currency. And the precipitous drop was partly responsible for…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Your 401(k)

Principal Financial… higher 401k fees are good??

A bit of financial news showed up on my internet news site this morning that may be of interest to my readers…. I subscribe to Seeking alpha, a financial internet site that “encourages” investors to buy corporate shares via their recommendations. Principal Financial seems to dominate their website for reasons…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The Brave New World of Best Interest…

Until recently, deceiving investors was a skill virtually any advisor was capable of reaching.  Under the “old” suitability standard, a financial advisor didn’t owe their client a “best interest” standard when recommending investments.  And working for the Principal Group of Companies was a breeze… Principal paid grossly inflated commissions to sell their…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Fiduciary Breach of Duty Owed?

Fiduciary breach of duty…for years I have been telling readers that the Principal Financial Group of Companies, as defined by ERISA, is not a fiduciary.  Yet, in this annual publication entitled “Due diligence Process 2015 Year in Review,” one might think differently.  Principal has clearly stated  repeatedly that Principal Life…

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Fiduciaries
Posted in Money Laundering

How Insurance Companies Can Steal Your 401k Money…

Can your Plan Provider Steal your 401k money? Borrowing money in the “old” days was easy…, a Mortgagor was the guy borrowing the money, the Mortgagee was typically a bank, also called a lender, and the property the loan purchased was called collateral.   Today we have what the insurance industry calls…

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401(K)
Posted in Recent Posts

Is your 401(k) a Retirement Ripoff?

On November 25, 2006, Forbes magazine published an article entitled “Retirement Ripoff” about 401k retirement plans and the fees charged by plan administrators.  The focus of this article was Principal Financial, a Plan Provider and at that time “the largest operator of small-company 401(k) plans, with 30,000 under management.”  The…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Portales Corporate loses $66Million for Investors..

Portales Corporate Center…in 1998,the Principal Life Insurance Company had loaned the developer, Anchor-Forum Portales I, LLC, $38,500,000 to construct Portales Phase One, according to this Construction Deed of Trust recorded in Maricopa County on 07/09/98… In 2008, Principal Life Insurance Company purchased for the Principal U.S. Property Separate Account Portales…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Separate Account vs. Pooled Separate Account… what is the difference?

There exists today a lot of confusion between a Separate Account vs. Pooled Separate Account. “Separate Account” and Pooled Separate Account” are often used interchangeably to define your 401k plan assets, even though they are two distinctly separate investment protocols Defining a “separate Account”… Assume you are a wealthy individual…

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Posted in Recent Posts

“Actual Knowledge” & your 401k Plan

“Actual knowledge” involving an alleged fiduciary breach and ERISA’s statute of limitations issues will soon become front and center in litigation involving insurance company group annuities. A recent decision by the Eighth Circuit involved litigation entitled Rozo v. Principal Life Insurance Company (Case 4:14-cv-00463-JAJ-CFB), in which the Appellate Court reversed…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Fixed Income Option… Appellate Court rules Principal a Fiduciary..

The Principal Fixed Income Option is a guaranteed general-account backed group annuity contract that has been issued by Principal Life Insurance Company to Principal Trust Company as custodian. On September 26, 2018, the website Law 360 reported the following: “An Iowa federal judge awarded a quick win to Principal Life…

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Posted in Recent Posts

401k Plan Assets…who wins?

401k plan assets…A lot has been written recently about 401k investing… it is almost like our Federal Government is telling you how you must invest your life savings to get the best return… but do the Feds have your “best interest” when recommending how to invest. The recently passed CARES…

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Posted in Recent Posts

A Variable Annuity…What is it?

Perhaps the most confusing “investment” found in most 401k Defined Contribution plans today are variable annuities. Offered only by insurance companies, they have suddenly replaced many pension plans today, as well as trillions of dollars in typical 401k savings plans. The most recent conversion from a typical pension to a…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Selecting a 401k Service Provider…

Business owners generally are responsible for ensuring that their 401k plans comply with Federal law, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Many businesses rely on a 401k Service Provider to advise them and assist them with their employee benefit plan duties. For this reason, selecting competent service providers…

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Posted in About

About the Author…Dennis Myhre, AIC

Mr. Myhre has enjoyed a successful career in investigative research. His early career included specialized training and active employment in pre-trial investigations on behalf of defense firms, accident reconstruction, and major loss settlements. Earlier research also involved several specialty assignments such as the investigation of transport related damages to new…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Financial offers Pooled Employer Plans

Pooled Employer Plans… for the past year or so, the Labor Department and the Securities & Exchange Commission have been working to devise an intuitive rule for small employers to offer 401k retirement plans to their employees. Congress got into the act when they included a similar rule as part…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Try Yelping Principal Financial and protect your savings…

This post opens with an obvious observation… Yelp is a website that publishes consumer reviews. If you are doing business with the Principal Group of Companies, try Yelping Principal Financial. There is a almost a 100% chance the outcome will not be a pleasant experience. You can find reviews of…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Exchange-Traded Products & your Self-Directed IRA…. Risky Business!

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are common ways for Americans to invest. An ETF is an investment vehicle that, similar to a mutual fund, offers public investors shares of a pool of assets; unlike a mutual fund, however, an ETF can be traded on exchanges like a stock. The catchall category of…

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Posted in Recent Posts

If you own a self-directed IRA… buyer beware!

According to a recent Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Investor Alert, if you own a self-directed IRA, you may be at risk for fraud! More individuals are moving into self-directed individual retirement accounts (IRA’s) to help build their retirement nest egg, and these unregistered IRA’s allow the investor to invest…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Life steals from investors, gets caught!

The Principal Group of Companies own a sordid history of defrauding investors… and occasionally they get caught. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) keeps close tabs on Principal’s registered securities, and in the recent past have prosecuted Principal Securities, a subsidiary, for breaching its fiduciary duty by failing to adequately disclose…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Financial Services… The Company from HELL!

The Company from HELL! For the past decade, I have been reporting on Principal’s lack of transparency in providing “services” to their clients. Principal has engaged in several instances of outright fraud and conflicted interests, as well as money laundering and other atrocities. Over 400 blog posts found in fiduciaryfactor.com…

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Principal 401k... win or lose?
Posted in Recent Posts

Understanding your Pooled Separate Account Annuity

Understanding your Pooled Separate Account Annuity, and comparing 401k investment plans are difficult. Pooled Separate Accounts (PSA’s) take center stage when discussing annuities. The truth is that most 401k investors are totally clueless when it comes to fully understanding what a PSA really represents. Consider the following… you are shopping…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Off-Balance Sheet Debt…deceiving 401k investors

Off-Balance Sheet Debt… Most 401k plan sponsors fail to use due diligence when identifying the risk of investing in insurance company annuities. Creating “off balance sheet debt” is a tactic used by unscrupulous insurance companies to create a sense of profitability with 401k plan prospects when selling their retirement products….

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Posted in Recent Posts

Is Principal Life Hoarding Cash?

Is Principal Life Hoarding Cash? Some weird stuff is happening at Principal Financial Services… they are “losing” investor’s deposits. I was informed this week that a Principal Life Insurance client instructed his bank to send a large deposit of money into his Principal IRA account. This individual followed the directions…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Are you a “clueless” 401k investor?

Are you a “clueless” 401k investor? Most 401k investors contribute thousands of dollars every year, and have no clue as to how their money is actually converted into profitable income for a secure retirement. The long answer is that there is no “profitable income” for retirement… the short answer is…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Building your 401k nest egg…

Your 401k nest egg… most of us have a need to save for retirement as well as for other expenses and future purchases. We all know it is necessary and prudent to “invest” a portion of our earnings, and have been told the “best” way to do so is to…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The truth about 401k pooled separate accounts…

401k Pooled Separate Accounts are like the Emperor’s clothes… If you have been following my posts over the past decade, my focus has had one theme… insurance company pooled separate accounts (PSA) are absolutely the worst “investment” offered to 401k savers today. Companies like the Principal Group of Companies prey…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Life… your 401k Ship of Dreams?

Principal Life… Ship of Dreams? Did you ever wonder why the Titanic, known as the “Ship of Dreams” went to the bottom of the Ocean?  I read some technical information on exactly what occurred the night of January 12, 1912.  Much to my surprise, the main structural cause was “Faulty…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Crimes against 401k investors by the Principal Group of Companies… Part 1

Since the early 1980’s there have been allegations of crimes against 401k investors by the Principal Group of Companies… this post will address a handful of reported abuses, both criminal and civil, reported in the past decade. The following several posts will detail those cases. October, 2011… U.S. wins tax…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The 401k Variable Annuity… Stupid is as Stupid does….

If you “own” a variable annuity product with the Principal Group of Companies, call them right now. Ask the Principal rep the following… “who actually “owns” my money, me or Principal.” Principal may provide a canned illustration of how your savings plan is growing with such a wide variety of…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Publicly traded vs. Private Equity… how your 401k is impacted

Publicly traded vs. Private Equity…..understanding what happens to your 401k plan assets once a plan service provider is hired to “service” your plan can be a mystery. Most 401k investors rely on their employer’s knowledge of managing their 401k savings plan, yet most small to medium sized businesses can easily…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Life Rips Off 401k Investors…

Principal Life Rips Off 401k Investors… You have worked hard for your money… and you don’t need corrupt and greedy financial managers stealing your savings. Yet, it is happening now, a it has for decades, with the help of Congress and the Department of Labor (DOL). When your employer to…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The truth behind your 401k plan…

The truth behind your 401k plan… for millions of American workers, the 401k plan offered by an employer is their only hope for a secure retirement. Yet, today questions still exist about how a 401k plan actually helps you to save for retirement. Remarkably, few individuals fully understand what happens…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal’s Year Over Year revenue growth… was it fraud?

In September, 2008, Principal experienced mass Year Over Year growth… they also froze several 401k pooled separate accounts, restricting access for hundreds of thousands of 401k plan participants to their plan assets. One being the Principal U.S. Property Separate Account (PUSPSA). The PUSPSA had hundreds of thousands of 401k plan…

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Posted in Pooled Separate Account Your 401(k)

Principal 401k Variable Annuities… Buyer Beware!

Most 401k retirement plans with Principal Life Insurance Company are group variable annuities.  You have contributed to your 401k plan faithfully for years and are approaching retirement.  You think you have made money with your plan, and you feel Principal should get the credit for your investing success. Your plan…

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Posted in Mortgage Fraud

1412 Broadway… A classic example of Mortgage Assignment fraud

Beginning in 2006,  the Principal Group of Companies managed by former COO/CEO Larry Zimpleman, ranked near the top as one of the most corrupt companies providing services to 401(k) investors during that time.  The evidence can be found in almost every commercial real estate investment bought or sold for the…

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Posted in Pooled Separate Account Your 401(k)

401k rights of investors stripped by the DOL… is a fox in the hen-house?

A private right of action has been stripped from the legal rights of 401k investors by the DOL, thanks to a recent ruling by Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia. The Department of Labor (DOL) has ventured out of their snake skin long enough to expose their “new” updated fiduciary standard to…

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Posted in Regulations

Why is the U.S. Department of Labor lying to investors?

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is no friend of 401k investors. Once again, another DOL “exemption” to protect insurance companies reeks of collusion and fraud from within the DOL’s ranks. The agency could not possibly be thinking of protections for your 401k when they passed their exemption this…

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Posted in Recent Posts Regulations

Standing down in the face of disaster… the DOL and SEC.

Recent weeks have taught us what can happen when our government officials decide to “Stand Down” in the face of opposition.   A decade ago, millions of older Americans lost most of their retirement savings.  Greedy and corrupt financial institutions serving their own best interest stole the money while our regulators…

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Posted in Your 401(k)

Is Principal’s crime spree finally over? (Part 3 of 3)

Part 3… Class Certification Granted in Rozo v. Principal Life Ins. Co. On May 12, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa certified a class of tens of thousands of retirement plan participants who invested in the Principal Fixed Income Option (PFIO) between 2008 and the…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Is Principal’s crime spree finally over? (Part 2 of 3)

Part 2…. When is a Service Provider a Fiduciary? Service Provider a Fiduciary? It was a decade ago that I began my crusade of reporting the abuses committed by the Principal Group of Companies on their own clients… they literally ripped of billions of dollars from millions of clients. If…

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Non-GAAP, the hidden danger in your 401k Plan...
Posted in Recent Posts

Is Principal’s crime spree finally over? (Part 1 of 3)

Part 1….. Rozo v. Principal… the “final straw?“ Is Principal’s crime spree finally over? For decades, the Principal Group of Companies have successfully defrauded 401k investors with random acts of aggression to steal their retirement dollars. Those stolen funds have totaled tens of billions of dollars, ungraciously dumped into Principal’s…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Is Your Boss a Fiduciary?

If your boss offers you and your co-workers a 401k plan, chances are that he is a Fiduciary for your plan. Another reality is that few bosses truly understand what a fiduciary is or what responsibilities exist. If you ask yourself “who actually owns my money when it is deposited…

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Posted in Your 401(k)

Will COVID-19 kill your 401k?

Will COVID-19 kill your 401k? We all know the virus has taken lives… it has also destroyed thousands of businesses and caused pain and suffering for millions of individuals worldwide. For future retirees, the virus has already resulted in financial suffering. Despite uncertainties in the financial markets today, the general…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Financial Group (PFG)… are their shares crashing?

On April 15th, Principal Financial Group (PFG) shares plummeted following what appears to be a result of a huge sell-off the prior day. This “Seeking Alpha” Chart illustrates yesterdays activities, and stock forecasts report that in the next 3 months Principal stock (PFG) could plummet to between $6.71 and $14.17:…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The CARES Act & your 401k Annuity…

A few days ago, the President signed The CARES Act, including an option for retirement savers to withdraw up to $100,000 from their 401k plan if they have been impacted by the Coronavirus. The CARES Act and your 401k… The recently passed CARES Act waives the 10% early withdrawal penalty…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal’s SimpleInvest… will fees destroy your gains?

Principal’s SimpleInvest. Principal has introduced their own version of offering a “Robo-Advisor” to manage your IRA called Simpleinvest. Their robo-advisor “…uses an algorithm to create—and automatically adjust—an investment mix personalized to you and your financial goals. You also get access to a team of financial professionals for ongoing support.” Principal…

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Posted in Your 401(k)

Short Selling your 401k Plan in today’s crisis…

Any knowledgeable investment adviser will tell you that during a “bear market,” 401k service providers, under certain conditions, can be short selling your 401k plan! The methodology is easy… and as a victim, you can risk losing your entire 401k savings. In 2008 and 2009, millions of 401k investors lost…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Your 401(k) is crashing… what to do next?

Your 401(k) is crashing… for the past decade,. investors have been told that it could happen again. It now appears the 2020 Financial Crisis is on the horizon. Your 401(k) is crashing… what to do next? Over a decade ago, beginning in September, 2008, 401(k) investors began losing what ultimately…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal’s “Buy-Back” of PFG stock… will it impact your 401(k)?

Principal’s intended Buy-Back of PFG stock was recently reported. as many of you know, our last major financial setback was over a decade ago. The news was grim… the markets were plummeting, and the big losers were being projected to be the “retirement savers”… millions of 401k investors that had…

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Principal Share Classes
Posted in Your 401(k)

Share Classes… the true cost of 401k fees…

It was April, 2018, and Ashley Nelsen, Roody Jasmin, and Joellyn Williams had finally had enough of Principal. Principal had been breaching their fiduciary duties with respect to their imprudent management of the Collective Investment Funds (“Principal CIT’s”) offered, violating ERISA regulations. Principal had also been receiving inflated profits by…

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Posted in Pooled Separate Account

“Why is my Wells Fargo 401k not growing?”

Due to the recent purchase of Wells Fargo 401k accounts by Principal Financial, account holders are now asking “why is my Wells Fargo 401k” not growing? Principal took control of Wells Fargo 401k accounts last fall, converting many of them into pooled separate accounts (PSA). Former Wells Fargo clients now…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance Your 401(k)

The Wells Fargo market surge… is it a Trojan Horse?

In recent months, the Wells Fargo Market Surge has resulted in a rapid, unexplained growth in the movement of their shares. Yet, their “recovery” still has a gloomy side. Why the market surge? Could it be a Trojan Horse, orchestrated in collusion with the Principal Group of Companies at the…

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Posted in Pooled Separate Account Your 401(k)

What is a 401k Pooled Separate Account?

One of the most searched phrases used to find my Blog-site include “What is a Pooled Separate Account?”, and if you Google the phrase, you will likely be directed to this link offered by the Summit CPA Group located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The link offers a brief, generic version…

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Posted in Regulations

The SECURE Act… Good, Bad, and Ugly?

Now that the SECURE act is reality, the financial industry is bestowing Congress, the President, and every Tom, Dick, and Harry involved in it’s passage with congratulatory remarks. Perhaps the most blantant example is a comment published in 401kSpecialistmag.com correctly headlining the event as “SECURE Act Victory Lap: Industry Celebrates,…

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Posted in Regulations

Wall Street vs. Main Street…The SECURE Act

Wall Street vs. Main Street…You probably heard the news… the SECURE Act is passed, and within a few weeks will be operational. If you are an insurance company broker/dealer , you have good reason to gloat… you now have a license to steal. Congress passed the SECURE Act specifically to…

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The SECURE Act...
Posted in Recent Posts

The SECURE Act… legalizing 401k fraud

This week appears to be a turning point for 401k investors nationwide. After months of collecting dust in the Senate, the SECURE Act, the most significant retirement saving reform legislation since the Pension Protection Act of 2006, is finally on its way to becoming law. Sounds like one heck of…

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Posted in Your 401(k)

FIRE… “Financially Independent, Retire Early”

Posting a Blog about exposing insurance company 401k corruption has it’s rewards and challenges… but a greater challenge is holding the interest of my readers. Recently, I learned of a large audience viewing my website… Millennial investors, looking to retire at 35. Referred to as “Super Savers” by at least…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Principal SimpleInvest… Read the Disclosures!

Principal SimpleInvest… Read the Disclosures! A few weeks ago, Principal launched a new plan for savers called Principal SimpleInvest. The plan starts with a “SimpleInvest IRA”, which can be opened online or by phone. The Terms of Use state that “SimpleInvest” is sponsored and managed by Principal Advised Services, which…

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Posted in Your 401(k)

What is a 401k Pooled Separate Account?

Imagine yourself wanting to store foodstuffs for the day when food could become scarce. Beans make a good choice because they can be stored safely and they never go bad. Beans come in many different varieties, as do your 401k investments. When your employer decides to use an insurance company…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Insurance companies “own” regulators…

Insurance companies “own”regulators… Congress has done nothing to protect working investors in America today. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced a “rule” to establish a new “fiduciary” standard… called the “Best interest” rule, it actually shields crooked investment counselors from discovery by the untrained and uneducated investor. Congress is…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

A Culture of Corruption

In my previous post, I mentioned Maxine Waters comment on MSNBC that “Wells Fargo needs to understand the culture that’s developed…” the meaning behind her comment is well understood by regulators and politicians alike. That culture is called corruption. Unfortunately, for the past decade or longer, the “culture” she refers…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Scandal Hits Principal… Hanrahan Arrested

Principal Real Estate Investors put $10 Billion of 401k investors money into the hands of Mark Allen Hanrahan, arrested while he was employed as Managing Director of Acquisitions and Dispositions… Hanrahan spent nearly 25 years as Managing Director of Des Moines, Iowa’s Principal Real Estate Investors, in addition to heading…

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Posted in Regulations

Is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency doing it’s job?

Maxine Waters heads up the House Financial Services Committee, and a year ago she talked aggressively about reform in the banking industry… She is still talking reform a year later, with this recent interview with MSNBC news. Violating federal banking regulations has consequences, and the Office of the Comptroller of…

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Posted in Regulations

Did Principal engage in “reckless disregard…”

During the financial crisis of 2008, Principal Bank was a savings and loan association, regulated by the Office of Thrift Supervision. All that changed in 2013 when the bank became a “limited purpose trust institution.” Principal Bank and BofI Federal Bank entered into an agreement to transfer Principal Bank’s individual checking accounts and…

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Posted in Recent Posts

What happened to Princor Financial Services, Inc.?

In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission a few years ago, Principal Financial described Princor Financial Services as follows: In a Business Wire news release published a decade ago, the following disclosure described Princor Financial Services: Princor Financial Services Corporation, the registered broker dealer company of the Principal…

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Principal bank
Posted in Money Laundering

Principal Bank … Still defrauding investors

If you Google “Principal Bank,” you will find the Principal Financial Group website, describing Principal Bank as ” …. a member of the Principal Financial Group and is an FDIC-insured bank” specializing in “Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).” iBanknet.com, a Federal registry of all banking institutions found within the United States, reported Principal Bank as…

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Principal stole billions
Posted in Mortgage Fraud

How Principal stole billions from 401k investors

As a Fund Manager, Principal stole billions of dollars from 401k investors prior to and during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. When a fund manager would accept investments from two or more ERISA plans, doing so triggered a notification requirement to the ERISA plan sponsor and an optional reporting requirement (filed…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Non-GAAP Accounting & Shadow Banking… a lethal mix for your 401k!

A black hole is a region of spacetime exhibiting gravitational acceleration so strong that nothing can escape from it. That same definition holds true for your 401k plan as well. 401k”s are either made up of mutual funds, or in the case of insurance companies, a “Fund of funds” that…

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Posted in Your 401(k)

Non-GAAP …aka fake accounting

Red flags should be flying when the 401k investor discovers Non-GAAP aka Fake Accounting. Last week Principal announced their 2019 3rd quarter Earnings… “At $345 million in the third quarter, and $1.5 billion over the trailing twelve months, Principal continues to deliver strong non-GAAP operating earnings, despite ongoing fee pressures…

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Shadow Banking... A Case Study in Crime and Corruption, Part 2
Posted in Money Laundering

Shadow Banking… A Case Study in Crime and Corruption, Part 2

333 Market Street… continued My first post as a Case Study on Shadow Banking discussed the purchase of 333 Market Street by the Principal Real Estate Investors for the Principal U.S. Property Separate Account. The reported purchase price was $370 million, more than twice the price Wells Fargo paid for…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Shadow Banking… A Case Study in Crime and Corruption

An Overview… For the past decade I have researched shadow banking and it’s impact on the 401k investment industry. I targeted one shadow banking resource for my study, the Principal Group of Companies. When this project started, I quickly recognized the complexity I was faced with in organizing data. I…

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Posted in Money Laundering

FinCEN… protecting your 401k plan assets?

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has reported a rise of a class of professional money laundering facilitators. The experts report an increase in the number of solicitors, attorneys, accountants, financial advisors, notaries and other fiduciaries whose services are employed to assist in the disposal of criminal profits. Among the…

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Investing pooled separate account
Posted in Your 401(k)

Investing in your Pooled Separate Account

One major advantage of your employer sponsored 401k plan is that the investments are “self-directed,” meaning you can pick and choose the investment allocation you have available. When your 401k is annuitized with an insurance company, your investment options are listed within the annuity, typically found in the last several…

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seeking alpha in your 401k
Posted in Recent Posts

Seeking Alpha in your 401k Plan…

For those of you that are not sure what “Alpha” means, it is a term that defines alpha as the excess return that an investment or a portfolio of investments achieves, above and beyond a market index or benchmark that represent the market’s broader movements. As an investor, you will typically have…

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Non-GAAP, the hidden danger in your 401k Plan...
Posted in Recent Posts

Non-GAAP, the hidden danger lurking in your 401k Plan…

Non-GAAP reporting is something Dan Houston, Chairman, President and CEO of the Principal Group of Companies, believes in. Whenever Houston discusses the financial status of his company, it is founded in Non-GAAP results. If You Google Non-GAAP+Dan Houston, you will quickly agree. When I searched the above phrase for this…

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Non-GAAP reporting
Posted in Recent Posts

Non-GAAP reporting…is Principal faking your 401k profits?

Chances are if you are relying on your boss or a financial advisor for investment advice in your 401k plan, you have never heard of Non-GAAP reporting… if that is the case, this post will brighten your day. GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) is a collection of commonly-followed accounting rules and…

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CCB Principal... How China will destroy your 401k
Posted in Recent Posts

CCB Principal… How China will destroy your 401k

In case you haven’t noticed, the Principal Financial Group and the China Construction Bank (CCB) have merged their resources to form a new asset management and pension partnership. Called the CCB Principal Asset Management Company (CCBPAM). As of 12/31/2015, it was the leading fund management company in China with $42…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Is Principal Financial Group the next Enron?

Enron & Principal share(d) the following negative issues…. sold/sells proprietary products to their 401k investors… had/has “deferred” payments from their 401k plans, restricting access by employees… Have initiated deferred payments, and as a result, thousands of investors have lost most, if not all, of their life savings as a result….

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Mystery of pooled separate accounts
Posted in Recent Posts

Why your 401k Service Provider is important…

If you own a 401k, you are among the majority of savers planning for retirement. Hard working Americans contribute billions of dollars to their 401k plans each year, relying on the fact that in doing so will insure a secure future. Typically, Americans have their employer with-hold approximately 10% of…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal… a Benchmark for Crime and Corruption

In early 2002, soon after the 2001 Enron bankruptcy, both the Federal House and Senate conducted several hearings concerning the facts surrounding the event. One Senate hearing, entitled “The Fall of Enron: how could it have happened?” delved into multiple aspects relating to the collapse. Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman pointed…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Keller Rohrback… a history of bad legal advice?

The fall of Enron….. The year was 2001, and Enron was ranked as the seventh largest corporation in America. The energy trading company was a bright star on Wall Street, a juggernaut trading at $90 a share at its height, with revenues over $100 billion. By the end of that…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Defining your Principal 401k Group Variable Annuity Contract

Variable Annuities and the SEC… Under the Securities Act of 1933, variable annuities must be registered with the SEC before they can be offered to the public. There are two exceptions to this registration requirement. The first registration exclusion is for variable annuity contracts issued in connection with certain qualified…

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Social Responsibility
Posted in Recent Posts

“Social Responsibility…” Battle of the Titans….

Social responsibility is an ethical framework and suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the…

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Group Variable Annuity
Posted in Recent Posts

The Group Variable Annuity…Understanding your 401k

This post will begin with a disclosure most of my readers already know….. I have a radical view of group variable annuities, an opinion shared by most educated financial analysts. In my opinion, the typical group variable annuity should be banned from the 401k industry, and I suspect many financial…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Principal Financial 401k… Win or Lose?

Federal regulators recently approved the sale of Wells Fargo Advisors retirement and trust accounts to Principal Financial Services, making Principal one of the top three 401k service providers in the country. Wells Fargo Advisors handled $1.4 trillion in client assets and was one of the country’s leading financial services firms until…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

The next recession… coming soon to your 401k savings.

Many financial analysts are predicting another recession in the next eighteen months. As a 401k saver, you will want to mitigate your losses where possible. But first, you should understand what will happen in order to be prepared for the inevitable. A complete understanding of the 2008-2009 financial crisis will…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Will China nationalize Principal’s owned assets?

Will China nationalize Principal’s owned assets? Will your 401k survive? This week the U.S. Treasury designated China a currency manipulator, and with all that’s been happening in the trade war with China this week, you may be wondering how all this will impact your 401k plan with the Principal Life…

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Corruption in 401(k) annuities
Posted in Recent Posts

Corrupt 401(k) Annuities

Why is corruption found in many 401(k) annuities? The answer is simply. The typical annuity associated with a 401(k) is called a “Group Variable Annuity.” A variable annuity poses the highest risk for retirement savers. This is not due to an unpredictable market… the high risk is based on the…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Is your 401k savings a “Black Hole?”

Before the 2008-2009 financial collapse, few 401k savers recognized the signs… no warnings, little or no media attention. A few analysts may have pointed to key indicators as a sign that “something” was happening in the economy, but no real warnings. Most working 401k savers hadn’t experienced a major upheaval…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Shadow Banking and your Principal Life 401k Plan…

Shadow Banking describes a collection of non-bank financial intermediaries that provide services similar to traditional commercial banks but outside normal banking regulations. So What Is Shadow Banking? “The Motley Fool” describes best what shadow banking is…not only it’s meaning, but also the history and it’s impact on our regulatory system…

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Posted in Recent Posts

What is the future for your 401k Plan?

What is the future for your 401k Plan? With the buyout of the Wells Fargo Advisors book of business, concerns for both the former clients of Wells Fargo as well as existing clients of the Principal Life and Principal Securities, Inc. quickly become apparent. While on the surface the transition…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Money Laundering 401k Annuities… Part 2 of 2

Imagine watching the morning news channel tomorrow morning and hearing … Principal Financial Services has filed for bankruptcy due to massive amount of debt they have accumulated since the last financial crisis.. Don’t think it can happen? In 2001, the Enron Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New York court, sparking…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Money Laundering 401k Annuities… Part 1 of 2

My last post discussed the possibility of a conspiracy theory involving the purchase of Wells Fargo 401k retirement accounts by Principal Financial Services. While “theories” can be created from virtually any set of facts, they do play a role to predicting future events. and outcomes of a group of related…

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Posted in Recent Posts

With SEC Regulation Best Interest… Fiduciary is Dead!

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced their “new” Regulation Best Interest standard of conduct for investment advisors. Hidden within the language of the ruling is the requirement that Registered Investment Advisers can no longer refer to a “fiduciary” standard of conduct when describing the manner in which they…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The SEC Regulation Best Interest… A Pitfall for 401k investors?

By adopting Regulation Best Interest, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton claims that “retail investors,” aka 401k investors, now possess the protections that will provide a secure retirement future. The lead-in copy of his recent press release says the following: “The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Wells Fargo Fake Accounts and Illegals?

Wells Fargo Fake Accounts and Illegals? If you have been wondering why Wells Fargo would open 3.5 million fake checking and savings accounts, consider the following… Would doing so somehow increase revenues? Banks are interested in only one thing… making money. Opening fake accounts that provide no financial benefit to…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The Variable Annuity, Fair Value, and your 401k

The Variable Annuity, Fair Value, and your 401k represent three independent factors that are on the lips of millions of retirement investors today. When writing to 401k investors, the focus of my efforts is to emphasize the importance of due diligence when making the right investment decisions. Yet, other factors…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Life stole billions… will it happen again?

Principal Life Insurance Company stole billions of dollars from 401k investors during the 2008-2009 financial crisis by freezing at least one Principal pooled separate account for almost three years, during which time the account was devalued by 50%, leaving the investors with a 50% loss. This feat was not a…

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Posted in Recent Posts

The SECURE Act… the insurance industry takes control of your 401k

A so-called “landmark bipartisan retirement legislation” , the SECURE Act, has sailed through the Federal House of Representatives, and is now headed for the Senate for their approval. Soon it will land on President Donald Trump’s desk where he will decide the fate of your savings for retirement… if he…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal takes over your Wells Fargo 401k… the Good, Bad, and Ugly

You may have just learned that Principal has purchased your 401k Plan recordkeeping from Wells Fargo for over a billion dollars… should you be worried? With all the negative press about Wells Fargo lately, what else could be worse? These are questions that 7.5 million retirement savers are asking themselves,…

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Posted in Your 401(k)

Principal acquires Wells Fargo 401k accounts… what’s next?

This morning, April 9th, the head of Wells Fargo’s wealth and investment-management business announced that Principal has agreed to purchase Wells Fargo’s 401k and pension unit. According to Principal, the deal will double Principal’s U.S. retirement business and expand its reach with mid-sized employers, giving it 7.5 million retirement customers…

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Posted in Regulations

What Principal’s Cease-and-Desist means for your 401k…

By now you should have read my previous post concerning the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) order for Principal Financial Services, Inc. to Cease-and-Desist defrauding their clients by Principal’s subsidiary, Principal Securities, Inc. This means that Principal will be required to repay their share traders millions in 12b-1 fees overcharged…

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Posted in Regulations

Principal Financial ordered to Cease-and-Desist by the SEC

Principal has been ordered to “Cease-and-Desist” by the Securities and Exchange Commission when the SEC found that Principal Securities, Inc., a subsidiary of Principal Financial Services, Inc., had breached its fiduciary duty and had failed to adequately disclose mutual fund share class selection practices and the fees it and associated…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal/Wells Fargo 401k buyout…. Winners and Losers

Since the news broke that Principal will likely buyout Wells Fargo’s book of retirement accounts by the end of March, a lot of questions remain unanswered. 401k investors should be aware how the buyout will impact their savings plan now with Wells Fargo. To fully understand why this will be…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Did Principal Bank & Wells Fargo steal from 401k investors?

San Francisco commercial office building rent returns were uncertain in 2004, and landlords were pushing the risk of uncertain rents off to the next buyers.  At that time over 16 million square feet of office space was sitting empty throughout the city, and rents were expected to fall even further….

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Posted in Recent Posts

Are Your 401(k) Plan Assets Safe?

There are three key “ingredients” needed to create a safe 401(k) plan… Plan Assets, Trustee, and Fiduciary.  A Group Variable Annuity, the type of plan your employer would purchase from an insurance company, will contain one of these ingredients. Your Plan Administrator, typically your boss, will be the Fiduciary. You…

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Posted in Regulations Your 401(k)

Is Principal’s “House of Cards” the next Bernie Madoff?

Principal has created a “house of cards” in their efforts to defraud millions of 401(k) investors like yourself. Between 2008 and 2011, Principal used billions of dollars in American 401(k) plan contributions to purchase pension plans in Mexico and South America, investment firms in Europe, as well as buyback their own PGF stock when the share value collapsed. They also liquidated troubled assets they owned leading up to the financial crisis.

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Posted in Recent Posts

Real Estate Investing and Your 401(k)

Recently there has been a push for 401(k) investors to purchase real estate as an investment… as an equity investment, the reported benefits include a much better return, security, and stability. If you are self-employed, and have a solo 401(k) plan, investing in real estate can be a good idea,…

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Posted in Recent Posts Regulations

Short Sales & Securities Lending… Ripping off 401(k) Investors!

Securities lending (SL) is one of the less-well-publicized shadow banking activities. Like repurchase agreements (repo) and asset-backed commercial paper, SL can be a source of very short-term wholesale funding, allowing a shadow bank to engage in the kind of liquidity, maturity and credit transformation that banks do. And, like other short-term funding sources, it can suddenly dry up, making it a source of systemic risk. When funding evaporates, fire sales and a credit crunch follow. ( Source: A Primer on Securities Lending )

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Posted in Recent Posts Your 401(k)

Exposing Corruption in Principal 401(k) Pooled Separate Accounts

Principal Life Insurance Company is no Fiduciary, and they own your money. They will tell lies that you love to hear, such as being the world’s “most ethical insurance company.” The reality is that they will devour your retirement savings as a wolf devours it’s prey…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Did State Street Corp. steal your 401k savings?

Wikipedia describes State Street Corporation as “a financial services and bank holding company headquartered at One Lincoln Street in Boston with operations worldwide.”  Headquartered in Boston, MA, It is one of the largest asset management companies in the world with $2.782 trillion assets USD under management and $33.12 trillion under custody…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Principal Bank… Core of Corruption?

Principal Bank was likely a key player in defrauding investors of 401(k) plan funds during the mid-2000’s… but how does an insurance company launder your money?  Actually, it is pretty simple.  First, an insurance company needs a bank.  Principal actually owns their own bank,  Principal Bank, as described in the following…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Commercial real estate fraud and your 401(k)….

Commercial Real Estate fraud…Principal viewed investor’s 401(k) plans as a huge cash cow to be drained as needed to salvage the commercial property industry… Principal executives targeted a specific group of investors.  They planned and schemed to steal retirement funds.  Principal’s exploits are well documented in financial journals and newsletters, but…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Due Diligence definition for the 401(k) investor

A fellow blogger published a post this week defining due diligence in the world of compliance… a definition I hadn’t considered, but it answered questions I had not considered until now.  I talk a lot about “due diligence.”   But I have never tried to define it.  Apparently the legal standard of…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Fraudulent Lending in the 401k Industry… 1250 Wigwam Parkway


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Posted in Regulations

ERISA Section 404(c)… A License to Lie…

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that establishes the standards for private pension plans, such as 401(k)s and 403(b)s. Section 404(c) is a specific  part of this law that permits employees to direct the investment of their own retirement accounts.  The section follows a prudent standard…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

Investment Fraud… A 401k nightmare?

Insurance company Investment Fraud…. My Blog focuses on insurance companies methodology for Investment Fraud… pure and simple.  I can’t take on the entire industry, so my investigation is focused on Principal Life Insurance Company.  I have investigated Principal for almost a decade.  I have never been an employee of the…

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Posted in Recent Posts

Anderson v. Principal Life Insurance Company… $11 million settlement

Anderson v. Principal Life… Principal Financial Services employees knew their employer had been ripping them off for almost a decade, so they took action.   A lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa against their employer Civil Action No. 4:15-cv-00119-JAJ-HCA. This class-action lawsuit, filed…

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Posted in Money Laundering Recent Posts

Researching The Principal U.S. Property Separate Account

In a recent post, I described how Principal Financial lied to plan sponsors concerning compensation paid to brokers for recommending Principal Group Annuities to their customers.  During the investigation by the Connecticut Attorney General’s office, Principal perpetrators were quoted as stating the arrangements were fashioned as “a means of adding…

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Posted in Ethics & Compliance

What is an Insurance Company Pooled Separate Account?

What is an Insurance Company Pooled Separate Account? I have received a number of requests from 401k investors asking what an insurance company separate account is… apparently few investors realize most investments offered by insurance companies are separate accounts and not securities.  That said, there remains a lot of confusion…

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