PLANSPONSOR - January - February 2024 - 7

More From
Washington
And the
Courts
DOL Information Security
Needs Improvement
A yearly audit found that information
security programs at the Department of
Labor contain weaknesses, demonstrating
that the regulator has failed to fully
adhere to applicable Federal Information
Security Management Act requirements
and other guidance.
Professional services firm KPMG LLP,
under contract with the DOL, conducted
the audit and made recommendations to
strengthen the department's information
security program. It also found, " based
on testing, " that, while 38 recommendations
made in prior years had been closed,
31 remained open, going back as far as
2011, according to its " FY [Fiscal Year]
2023 FISMA DOL Information Security
Report: Making Improvements Toward an
Effective Program. "
Regarding
lapses,
KPMG found
that the security program was partially
noncompliant with applicable FISMA
requirements, Office of Management and
Budget policy and guidance, and National
Institute of Standards and Technology
standards and guidelines. The " DOL's
system-level security policies have not
been updated to comply with " these applicable
standards and guidelines, Carolyn
R. Hantz, the DOL's assistant inspector
general for audit, wrote in a letter accompanying
the report.
The Federal Information Security
Management Act was passed in 2002-
as part of the Electronic Government
Act-setting
guidelines
and
security
standards to protect government information
and operations. FISMA requires
every federal agency to develop, document
and implement agencywide information
security programs.
" We remain concerned that the
prior-year finding of compliance with
NIST SP [Special Publication] 800-53,
Rev. 5, remains outstanding, " Hantz
wrote. " By not updating the department's
policies and procedures to be compliant,
the Chief Information Officer is not
taking necessary steps in mitigating IT
risk for the department. "
Based on the issues identified, there
are concerns from inside the DOL " about
the remaining corrections needed in [the
Office of the Chief Information Officer]'s
oversight and accountability over DOL's
information security control environment, "
according to the Office of the Inspector
General's summary of the report.
pre-retirees start receiving Social Security
benefits before age 70, despite the fact
that delaying is a better financial decision
for most, " except when someone urgently
needs the money and has no alternatives, "
the report states.
The reduction in benefits that
results from claiming before 70 will also
extend to the survivor's benefits if the
claimer dies first.
For retirees who can afford to,
using a bridge option lets them optimize
their Social Security savings, the report
says. With a bridge, the retiree covers
living expenses through withdrawals
from retirement savings-typically, the
person's defined contribution retirement
account/s, such as 401(k)/s or individual
retirement account/s-before claiming
Social Security. " These retired workers
More than 90% of retirees and
pre-retirees start receiving Social
Security benefits before age 70, despite
the fact that delaying is a better
financial decision for most ...
Report Encourages Taking
Social Security at 70
Americans would get more out of Social
Security if they had access to information
and programs that made it clear why
they should wait until age 70 to claim
their benefits, says a report published by
the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy
Analysis at The New School in New York
City. The report examines different types
of " Social Security bridge " strategies that
could incentivize retirees and pre-retirees
to wait longer to first claim; outlined
reasons why some older Americans start
drawing benefits at a younger age; and
suggested some policy fixes.
More
than 90% of retirees
and
would withdraw funds roughly equal to
their monthly Social Security benefit to
delay their Social Security claims while
maintaining a relatively smooth level of
consumption, " the report says.
The report provides several policy
recommendations for programs that
would encourage retirees and pre-retirees
to wait longer before claiming, some of
which have already been proposed.
For example, it suggests improving
communications about Social Security's
age structure-e.g., by outlining the
costs of collecting early, both for individuals
and their survivors. If older
employees are generally unaware that
waiting could be a better choice, then a
bridge is apt to be ineffective.
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