I was reading about the NotPetya attack by Russia on the Ukraine that wormed its way out into multinational corporations and caused an estimated $10 billion of damage.
If the next stage of warfare is cyber, how concerned are you that one day you open up your retirement accounts to find that everything is gone?
https://www.wired.com/story/notpetya-cy ... the-world/
Can my IRA or 401(k) be hacked?
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Mister Imperceptible
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Re: Can my IRA or 401(k) be hacked?
Close to zero concern as we have SIPC in the US and I have multiple accounts all under the limit. I do own some paper savings bonds; if the government defaults we're all screwed.
Mutual funds don't have SIPC per se, but their statements are audited, so there's independent confirmation the money exists and is being invested. Or else there's a separate custodian. I guess the auditor could be in on it a la Arthur Andersen and Enron.
If this worries you you could always ask for the stock certificates from your broker. Even if you keep stocks in street name the transfer agent will have a record of what broker owns what shares, and from there the forensics is pretty easy work.
Mutual funds don't have SIPC per se, but their statements are audited, so there's independent confirmation the money exists and is being invested. Or else there's a separate custodian. I guess the auditor could be in on it a la Arthur Andersen and Enron.
If this worries you you could always ask for the stock certificates from your broker. Even if you keep stocks in street name the transfer agent will have a record of what broker owns what shares, and from there the forensics is pretty easy work.