Retirement Plan

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine.   Running it back: Ray Lewis may retire if the Ravens win a Super Bowl this season . ... Joe Flacco is scheduled to play the first quarter of the Ravens' preseason opener at the Eagles on Thursday night, and rookie Tyrod Taylor will get most of the playing time after that . ... Domonique Foxworth, who is trying to make a comeback from a torn ACL, could miss the preseason opener . ... Cal Ripken Jr. acknowledged again Tuesday that he has an " itch to come back to the big league scene . " ... Buck Showalter got ejected in the Orioles' 4-3 loss to the White Sox on Tuesday.

Robert Larkin's association with Oak Crest retirement community in Parkville began long before he and his wife purchased a condo there in 2001. The 86-year-old retired Baltimore City police major had contacts with Oak Crest before it even opened its doors. "I used to walk over here from Perry Hall during construction," Larkin said. "I'd wear my hard hat, [and] I got to know all the workers. That was in 1994. " There was never any doubt that the he and his wife, Gloria, would move into Oak Crest when they felt the time was right.

Robert Larkin's association with Oak Crest retirement community in Parkville began long before he and his wife purchased a condo there in 2001. The 86-year-old retired Baltimore City police major had contacts with Oak Crest before it even opened its doors. "I used to walk over here from Perry Hall during construction," Larkin said. "I'd wear my hard hat, [and] I got to know all the workers. That was in 1994. " There was never any doubt that the he and his wife, Gloria, would move into Oak Crest when they felt the time was right.

More than a year after questions arose publicly about the state of Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc.'s retirement plan, the financial company that oversaw the plan has gone on record as saying that the West Pratt Street mental health clinic all but stopped making contributions after Sept. 2009. An official with the Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. made the statement in an affidavit late last month. It was filed in federal court by the attorney for employees who allege in a lawsuit that BBH executives “diverted and stole” money intended for their retirement plans.

The U.S. Department of Labor has opened an inquiry into the employee retirement plan of a taxpayer-funded mental health clinic in Baltimore after former workers said money deducted from their paychecks as far back as 2009 never reached their retirement plan accounts. The government has instructed Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc. to provide an array of documentation related to its retirement plan, according to two certified letters obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The federal inquiry began around two weeks after The Sun reported Dec. 10 that two former employees at the nonprofit clinic had discovered unexplained shortfalls in their retirement accounts.

The ball is about to drop on 2008. Is your retirement plan where it should be? Whether you're 20 and starting to save or already managing a sizable nest egg, next year could be an important one for your long-term money. There'll be an election of a new president, who could try to change taxes or Social Security policy. Blink, and you might find your employer shuffling you into a new savings plan. Retirement experts offered some advice for navigating the coming year: Get going. You have until April 15 to make your 2007 individual retirement account contribution (up to $4,000, or $5,000 if you're 50 and up)

The Board of Public Works postponed its scheduled vote yesterday on a contract to administer the supplemental retirement plan for state workers.Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein and Treasurer Richard N. Dixon asked that the vote be postponed so that a clause could be added to the contract requiring that annual reports be provided to the board.The contract is expected to be awarded to PEBSCO, which has managed the private retirement savings accounts of state workers for more than two decades.

IF YOU'VE held several jobs during your working life, and they all provided a retirement plan, I hate to think about your paperwork. All the plans are probably trailing you, like a comet's tail.Reader Suzanne O'Keefe of Brooklyn, N.Y., writes that she has two 403(b) plans, from when she taught at graduate school; a third 403(b) from her current employer; a self-directed pension from her current employer, which lets her pick the mutual funds; a 457 plan from the City of New York; and an individual retirement account.

Baltimore County school employees will be able to choose from among five retirement plan provider options, after an 8-0 school board vote last night. The five recommended vendors for 403(b) retirement plans are: AIG Retirement, ING Life Insurance & Annuity Co., Lincoln Financial Group, MetLife Resources and Security Financial Resources & Security Distributors Inc. It is expected that one will be selected as a third-party administrator, school officials said. Board member Valerie A. Roddy recused herself, citing a potential conflict of interest: Her husband's law firm represents one of the bidders.

Ideas on where to put -- or not put -- your money, some from offbeat publications you won't find on newsstands."MAX OUT": "Maximize contributions to your company's retirement plan, such as 401(k). We hope you realize that Social Security won't meet all of your retirement needs. The tax-free investment growth and savings discipline inside your retirement plan are hard to beat. Also, consider the new Roth IRAs available next year." (Income Digest)CAVEAT EMPTOR: "There is a 'string' to most investment propositions.

Maryland native Dawn Lindsay, who has been serving as president of Glendale Community College outside Los Angeles since 2009, said she would have gladly remained at the school until she heard that the presidency at Anne Arundel Community College, a position she referred to as "her dream job," became available. AACC has named Lindsay as its new president, allowing the McDaniel College graduate with extensive experience at local institutions the chance to return to the area after being away for 18 years.

Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc. says it has handed over some documents demanded by the federal government as part of an investigation into alleged shortfalls in the retirement plan at the West Pratt Street mental health clinic. Employee tax records were provided Monday, the day before a scheduled hearing in federal court on the matter, according to a court filing. The U.S. Labor Department sued BBH and chief executive William "Kris" Hathaway in October, alleging that they had failed to comply with two administrative subpoenas issued in May. The clinic said Monday in court papers it had turned over employee W-2 forms.

When the federal government recently raised the benefits for Social Security recipients, it also lifted the amount of money you can salt away in tax-friendly retirement accounts. Beginning next year, you can put away up to $17,000 - $500 more - in a 401(k), 403 (b) and most 457 plans. Catch-up contributions for workers 50 and up, though, remain at $5,500 a year. Workers, covered by a retirement plan on the job, can make a full or partial tax-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA if their adjusted gross income doesn't exceed $68,000 for singles and $112,000 for joint filers.

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine.   Running it back: Ray Lewis may retire if the Ravens win a Super Bowl this season . ... Joe Flacco is scheduled to play the first quarter of the Ravens' preseason opener at the Eagles on Thursday night, and rookie Tyrod Taylor will get most of the playing time after that . ... Domonique Foxworth, who is trying to make a comeback from a torn ACL, could miss the preseason opener . ... Cal Ripken Jr. acknowledged again Tuesday that he has an " itch to come back to the big league scene . " ... Buck Showalter got ejected in the Orioles' 4-3 loss to the White Sox on Tuesday.

Ever so slowly, the unemployed are getting hired. And if you're one of them, the next task will be to get your finances back on track. The latest government figures show that the median length of unemployment is 51/2 months — enough time without a paycheck to do a lot of damage. By then, you might have wiped out savings, dipped into retirement accounts or racked up credit card debt. Your credit record could be tarnished if you were late paying bills or defaulted. Getting back on sound financial footing will take some time — and a switch in mind-set.

When you retire at 65, you'll need 75 percent of your pre-retirement income to live comfortably in old age. And your money will have to last until you die at 92 — or 94 if you're a woman. These are some of the assumptions that investment firms make about us for retirement planning. But how do they come up with these numbers? It's part science — and a bit of art. Investment firms use statistics and studies to create dozens of assumptions, from when we are likely to retire and die to what future inflation rates will be or how much our 401(k)

In a complex world, it can be the smallest of overlooked details that comes back to haunt you months, perhaps years later.For example, it is increasingly possible that your marriage will end in divorce. The odds of it happening this year are about 1 in 20.Some marriages take place early in life and last a short time, ultimately becoming nothing more than a dim memory. But other divorces take place after many years of marriage, when children have been raised and family assets have built up. When one partner has set aside a career in business to maintain family life, individual rights come into question.

Employers now have more reasons to feel comfortable about ditching their traditional pension plans for so-called cash balance plans. For years, there have been questions about whether switching to a cash balance plan discriminated against older workers, because conversions often have reduced the projected benefits for those workers. But the new federal pension bill signed into law this month essentially says newly created cash balance plans won't be age discriminatory if they meet certain criteria.

It's not the end of the world. And even if it is, most folks in Maryland seemed ready to go down with a stiff drink and a serious belly laugh this week — even as believers nationwide prepared for a prophesied May 21, 2011, rapture. In Baltimore, people seemed more focused on the Preakness than on the apocalypse, though the end of the world was supposed to begin just as the race was about to start. Over the last week, "Save the Date" billboards began appearing around town, catching people's eyes as they motored past.

The U.S. Department of Labor has opened an inquiry into the employee retirement plan of a taxpayer-funded mental health clinic in Baltimore after former workers said money deducted from their paychecks as far back as 2009 never reached their retirement plan accounts. The government has instructed Baltimore Behavioral Health Inc. to provide an array of documentation related to its retirement plan, according to two certified letters obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The federal inquiry began around two weeks after The Sun reported Dec. 10 that two former employees at the nonprofit clinic had discovered unexplained shortfalls in their retirement accounts.