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A pox on your boss and all highhanded bosses like him. They callously slight their employees’ concerns and violate the pension law. Unfortunately, federal budgets are so tight that the government cannot afford the staff needed to enforce your rights (that’s one of the things “less government” means). But here’s what the law entitles you to and how you night get the info yourself.

When you first join a plan, your boss should give you a summary description of how it works, including the name and address of the plan administrator. Each year, you should get–automatically–a summary of each annual report, telling you how the investments are doing. On written request, you’re entitled to a free, annual statement showing what your pension is worth. (Many employers also provide this automatically.)

But the summary annual report may not include all the financial details, says New York attorney David Preminger of Rosen, Preminger & Bloom. So on written request to the plan administrator, you’re entitled to see the full annual report (Form 5500), which lists all the investments (a copy may cost up to 25 cents a page).

The catch is that the plan administrator might be your boss. It’s illegal to fire you for enforcing your pension rights, but you want a job, not a lawsuit. For a private look at an old 5500 for your plan, write to the Department of Labor, Public Disclosure Room N-5507, 200 Constitution Avenue NW. Washington, D.C. 20210. Copying cost: 15 cents a page. Give your employer’s nine-digit pension-plan ID number (it’s on the plan summary). The plan can also be found under your company’s (or doctor’s) name and address. Unfortunately, the Feds are two years or more behind in filing 5500s, and small plans have to file only every three years.

DONALD PASSALACQUA, TROY, MICH.

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For you, no advantage at all. unless you like to pat the bank window as you go by. Your S&L pays 5.5 percent on a one-year CD. You can raise that to 6.66 percent at the Southern Pacific Thrift & Loan in Los Angeles. which is both FDIC insured and top rated for safety by Veribanc, a firm that evaluates financial institutions. Switching earns you an extra $174. When the CD matures, your money can be wired to you at no charge. Some newspaper financial sections list top-paying banks. Or consult “100 Highest Yields,” $48 for an eight-week subscription (P.O. Box 088888, North Palm Beach, Fla. 33408). But the cost of the sub chops your net return.

ALBERT McCOLLOUGH, HUNTINGTON, N.Y.

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Your letter turned up a truly depressing story at Fidelity. Other retirees should take note; maybe they’ve got the problem, too.

The amount of a joint-and-survivor withdrawal depends on the life expectancies of you and your spouse, which change every year. When you started your withdrawals, however, Fidelity couldn’t make those changes automatically. So it picked a single life expectancy and paid out at that rate–without explaining what it was doing. As a result, you’ve withdrawn more money than you had to.

Fidelity’s Terrence Kunkel, assistant to the chairman, hopped on your case when NEWSWEEK called. He says that, since 1991, the company has been able to make joint-and-survivor distributions. What’s left of your IRA will be paid out that way, although nothing can be done about the errors of the past. And by the way, this reddens no flags at the IRS, which cares only that you take the required minimum distribution. Who’s responsible at Fidelity for bum tax advice that its “IRA specialists” give?

NORMAN PERKINS, OCEANSIDE, CALIF.

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I cannot guess what the market will do, although for a new investor this low price might be a buy. But one thing I do know: your Ginnie Mae fund was both conservative and prudent, while your new fund is wildly aggressive. Among other things, TCW-3 borrows money to help beef up its dividends and buys derivatives called inverse floaters, which drop like stones when interest rates rise. In total return, your old fund lost 3.5 percent last year while TCW-3 lost 20.7 percent, reports Catherine Gillis of Morningstar in Chicago.

Will you get your money back when the fund matures? “That’s a leap of faith,” Gillis says. Your broker said that TCW-3 would “lock in” a high yield, but last year its dividends were slashed, so your income has declined. A class-action lawsuit has been filed. Dean Witter won’t comment. You say that one third of your financial assets are in TCW-3. Ed Morrow of Financial Planning Consultants in Middletown, Ohio, says that’s too much for any risky fund.

Send your questions to Jane Bryant Quinn, NEWSWEEK FOCUS: ON YOUR MONEY, 251 West 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10019. Letters can be answered only in the column.