"What John Oliver learned [which Greensboro's City Council and City Staff Didn't] while setting up a 401(k) plan for his employees"

"John Oliver, who has famously exposed the questionable practices of various industries on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight” ...recently took a look at the onerous fees that some retirement plans charge.

When presented with the opportunity to do right by City of Greensboro's employees, 

Tony Wilkins, Marikay Abuzuaiter, Nancy Vaughan, Mike Barber, Yvonne Johnson, 

Jamal Fox, Sharon Hightower, Rick Lusk, Mary Vigue, Connie Hammond, Jim Westmoreland 

and Zack Matheny, who was a stockbroker and knew better, 

supported cronies connected to the financial industry

instead of more than 2,800 employees who are still getting skimmed off of by ICMA-RC, 

the administrator for the City's 457 retirement plan.

“As a favor to your future self, it is worth watching this for 20 minutes because you could easily make small mistakes that could seriously cost you down the line,” he says toward the beginning of the June 12 episode.

Those current and former City employees mentioned above are thieves

They stole from those who they are supposed to look out for

He goes on to say that most actively managed funds don’t beat the market, and that anyone can call himself an investment adviser whether he has official credentials or not. And he explains what it means when an adivser is bound by a fiduciary standard: “It’s currently legal for advisers to put their own interests ahead of yours unless they’re a fiduciary.”...

The News and Record refused to look into Greensboro's retirement plan

and North Carolina State's retirement plans

for the benefit of Warren Buffett, who owns the paper and Wells Fargo

of which Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 10%

...he dedicates much of the show to what he learned after asking his production company to set up a 401(k) plan for his employees. Namely, that there are a lot of fees.

Susan Ladd betrayed City of Greensboro employees 

and our community by inaction, while she tries over and over to save some trees

instead of thousands of residents millions over time

“Compound interest works both ways,” he says. The company managing the show’s 401(k), John Hancock, gave him and his staff a presentation. After looking at the plan’s paperwork, “Last Week Tonight” realized there were the following fees: A combined 1.69% fee, plus a $24 per person per year fee, plus a fee for a broker who was acting as an intermediary. The broker received 1% of assets the first year and 0.5% every year after that. Oliver points out that if his 35 employees saved $6,000 a year for 30 years, it would cost them $1 million in fees overall. In addition, the broker said he was not a fiduciary, and when he sent the show a table showing how much the plan could grow, he was off by more than $10 million because of bad arithmetic, according to Oliver.

ICMA-RC is not considered a fiduciary for Greensboro's employees,

letting City Management including Jim Westmoreland, Mary Vigue, members of ICMA,

mislead and overcharge City participants with the active help of ICMA member Jamal Fox

and the rest of City Council.

...A spokeswoman for John Hancock told MarketWatch via email that the show’s 401(k) plan was placed with it after “an open and rigorous competitive review,” and it was competing against other prominent companies for the account. She said John Hancock disagrees with the way its business practices were characterized.

ICMA-RC doesn't act in the best interests of the City of Greensboro's employees,

but the best interests of ICMA-RC with the help of Council and Staff

“We feel that the analysis and presentation of fees and services by the show is flawed and misleading,” she said, adding, “We believe in the value of the services we provide and feel they add to the success of the plan in helping participants for retirement.”

By not making an endorsement for the NC Treasurer Democratic primary,

Greensboro's News and Record, along with most of the other state papers

fucked hundreds of thousands of municipal employees out of more than $500,000,000 per year

and most don't know.

In the end, Oliver offered five tips for people saving for retirement. You can see these starting around the 18-minute mark of the video, where they are much more humorously presented than they are here:

1. Start saving now
2. Invest in low-cost index funds

The City of Greensboro lied in response to a public records request,

has been caught red handed, and our local press won't report it

for the benefit of local City executives and entrenched City Council incumbents

to the detriment of City employees and they are going to get away with it

because it may harm the financial industry's profit margins.

3. Ask if your adviser is a fiduciary
4. Gradually shift investments from stocks to bonds as you get older
5. Keep your fees under 1%

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-john-oliver-learned-while-setting-up-a-401k-plan-for-his-employees-2016-06-13
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The News and Record didn't report how Clayton Homes rips off poor people.

Jeff Gauger didn't report how Wells Fargo makes money from North Carolina's retirement plans.

The News and Record didn't report how mimicking the federal government's Thrift Savings Plan
 could save Greensboro's employees more than $500,000 per year, 
to preserve Warren Buffett's profitability at the expense of their readers.

Jeff Gauger and friends steal hundreds of millions from their readers 
via lies of omission so Warren Buffett can make more money.

Joe Killian and Jeff Gauger betrayed North Carolina's employees
for Warren Buffett

Allen Johnson and Doug Clark betrayed North Carolina's employees
for Warren Buffett
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How to save $20,967,663 for the City of Durham's employees invested in ICMA-RC's 457 retirement plan

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/05/how-to-save-20967663-for-city-of.html

Greensboro's News and Record is directly responsible 

for North Carolina and the City of Greensboro's employees 

paying more for pension and retirement investments than necessary,

as they have known for years and did nothing

Now Mary Vigue is in charge of a legal Ponzi scheme called Say Yes to Education and Say Yes Guilford whose business model skims profits for administrators and vendors meant for college scholarships for Guilford County students with monies donated by local foundations, managed for a profit by the Community Foundation of High Point, and the Community Foundation of Greensboro, who's Walker Sanders lied to get additional taxpayer funding for Greensboro's STPAC with the help of Matt Brown, City Council and City staff, including Rick Lusk.