Your Money: Life savings, stolen via paper check

Why was Paychex, a major industry player, using paper checks given how often check fraud happens?

View in browser|nytimes.com May 19, 2025 By Ron Lieber Hi Everyone — This weekend, we debuted our new feature, "How Did This Happen?" We're writing about situations in your financial life where you want to include the sort of expletive in that question that we cannot print in a family newspaper. Our first story was about someone whose 401(k) rollover checks were stolen out of the mail. He still hasn't gotten his money back, and nobody — not the entity that helped oversee his old retirement plan nor the bank that mistakenly accepted the biggest stolen check — will take responsibility. Thanks to those of you who have already sent us head-scratchers and forehead-slappers. We seek annuity stories that are inexplicable (we'll explain them), over-the-top moving snafus (anyone had their belongings held hostage recently?), expensive subscriptions you can't cancel (yes, this is still a thing), confounding health insurance situations (wow, do I have one of those myself that I will share sometime this year) and anything else that has broken your brain. Let's unbreak brains together. There's a submission form at the bottom of our article from this past weekend. Once again, that link is right here. Have a good week. Alain Pilon How Did This Happen? His Life Savings Were Mailed to Him by Paper Check. Now, It's Gone. A thief stole 401(k) checks out of the mail. But why was Paychex, a major industry player, using paper at all given how often check fraud happens? By Ron Lieber Why Are So Many Retirees Filing for Social Security Earlier? An additional 276,000 people filed for Social Security benefits so far this fiscal year, up 13% from a year ago. 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