* Roll your money into an individual retirement account when you retire (my comments on this later). Eight retirees who left their assets in one of four affected plans were receiving monthly checks from their accounts until plan was frozen last spring amid investigation, said William Whitmire, company’s director and Plan’s trustee. “Some of them are really desperate, but there’s nothing that can be done until insurers come to agreement,’ he said.

* Make sure you are getting all your statements, and force yourself to reconcile them. The amount deducted from your paycheck should match amount deposited into your 401(k) account.

* The trustees of four Atlanta-area plans were supposed to get regular statements from both retirement-plan administrator and custodian of plans’ assets. The trustees of two hardest-hit plans didn’t get their custodial statements regularly, because they were sent to other addresses. When trustees did get custodial statements, they didn’t review them.

*Don’t assume that you will receive a heads-up from your employer or plan custodian. As alleged fraud in Atlanta began to unravel, federal agents showed up at Whitmore’s office with a stack of about 75 forged checks made out to people ‘he never heard of,” he said. He claims that plan’s custodian didn’t call to make sure checks were authentic.

As I was reading this article I couldn’t help thinking about old adage ‘No one cares as much about your money as you do.’

And here’s crux of this whole article:

You do not have to wait until you retire before moving monies from your 401(k) Plan into an individual IRA. There was and is a law which was passed in 2002 which allows you to transfer any after-taxed dollars and company-matched dollars out of your 401(k) plan into an IRA (with no fees or penalties, and no matter what your age). I have been doing this while still employed with my company. I have built my own mutual fund, using monies that have been transferred from my 401(k) into an individual IRA.

If you get nothing else out of this article, let it be that you will contact firm your 401(k) monies are with, and find out your available options.

To read Preface from book ‘The Stockopoly Plan- Investing for Retirement’ visit: http://www.thestockopolyplan.com

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when asking if there are better deals out there:

Ask Politely: Being courteous and asking with a smile will go a long way in having person you're talking with want to help you. If you are rude or demeaning in any way, they will have no incentive to try to see if they can get you a better deal. Never forget that you won't be able to get a better deal without their help, so always treat staff as you would want to be treated yourself.

Ask The Appropriate Person: The general rule here is to ask highest level person you can. The higher up chain of command, more flexibility person will usually have in granting any requests you make. If you are planning on buying multiple large appliances and want to ask for a further discount to buy them all from one establishment, a manager will have more authority to make a deal than regular sales staff.

Point Out The Reason: If there is a legitimate reason for you to be asking for an additional discount or other compensation, let person know why. If you saw same item advertised at a competitor for less, say so. If you have consistently been a good and long time customer, mention it. If store or service has failed to provide what you expected, make note of it.

Ask For Advice: If there is something you truly want, but it is beyond your budget, mention this to salesperson and ask their advice on how they would reduce costs associated with what you want. Staff members many times have greater knowledge on subject than yourself and may offer acceptable, less expensive alternatives that you have never considered.

Take The Time To Reward: If a salesperson helps you get a better deal than you expected when you arrived at establishment, reward their effort. Take a few minutes to tell manager what a wonderful job they did or send a letter off to company headquarters mentioning person who helped you. If you frequent store often, employees will know that you reward good service and will go out of their way to help you next time you ask for something.

You should begin asking away. Try to ask if there are better deals at least once a day. The more you practice, better you will become at it, and soon your friends will consider you one of those people who seems to possess magical power of creating great deals out of thin air. Remember that asking costs absolutely nothing and it has potential to save you significant amounts of money in all areas of your life.