|
| Webcast Event |
| Employers are placing greater importance on the
benefits programs they provide to their employees, and the proper integration
of these programs is critical. As corporations aim to provide participants with
the ability to see all their benefits and financial accounts together—and look
to ensure employee appreciation and utilization of these benefits—financial
wellness programs are gaining momentum, and the role of human resources (HR)
professionals is quickly changing. Join us for a thought-provoking webcast
which will discuss how to develop a financial wellness program and enhance the
productivity of your firm. |
|
| Benefit Briefs |
| Retirement Income Needs Vary |
| Those saving for retirement may be able to
survive on a much lower retirement income than popularly advised, according to
a research paper about the subject. The paper, “Estimating the True Cost of
Retirement,” written by David Blanchett, head of Retirement Research for
Morningstar Investment Management, notes a common approach to estimating the
total amount of savings required to fund retirement is to first apply a generic
replacement rate to pre-retirement income (e.g., 70% to 80%) to get the desired
retirement income need. However, Blanchett finds the actual replacement rate is
likely to vary considerably by retiree household, ranging from 54% to 87%. “In
helping participants estimate what they’ll need for retirement, it’s important
for plan sponsors to understand the costs that will be unique to each person,”
Blanchett tells PLANSPONSOR. |
| Workers Need Planning Help Through Retirement |
| The Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) released
a new report showing Baby Boomers’ confidence in their plans for retirement
continues to decline. During a press call to kick off National Retirement
Planning Week, Danielle Holland, senior vice president with the Insured
Retirement Institute (IRI) said its recent study showed the percentage of Baby
Boomers with no to low confidence increased from 23% in 2011 to 31% in 2014. In
addition, those who said they are satisfied economically decreased from 77% in
2013 to 65% in 2014. One-quarter of Baby Boomers polled reported they postponed
plans to retire within the last 12 months. |
|
| Buyer's Market |
| BNY Mellon Reopens Stable Value Fund for DC Plans |
| The Bank of New York Mellon is accepting new
investors into the Mellon Stable Value Fund, a bank-sponsored collective
investment fund for defined contribution benefit trusts. The fund stopped
accepting new investors in January 2012 due to an industry-wide shortage of
investment contracts, which the fund uses to help insulate investors from
market volatility. |
| AllianceBernstein LP, a global investment
management firm, announced that Roberta Matheny has joined the firm as vice
president and senior client service officer. Matheny will be responsible for
servicing existing institutional clients and for supporting the growth of the
firm’s defined contribution (DC) business. She will focus on servicing and
growing the firm’s $20 billion client base of customized target-date and
lifetime income strategies. |
| Cleary Gull, Inc. announced a new pre-retirement
planning program for United Airlines pilots and their 401(k) plans. Cleary
Gull’s ClearWealth Pre-Retirement Program allows pilots to work with an outside
adviser to create a professionally managed portfolio within their 401(k) plan
via their plan’s Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account brokerage window. |
| Recordkeeper Adds Personal Advice Offering |
| Recordkeeping and custodial services provider
Retirement Revolution added vWise’s SmartPlan Enterprise solution to its
retirement plan product offerings. Retirement Revolution offers recordkeeping
and asset custody services to registered investment advisers (RIA), third-party
administrators (TPAs) and their plan sponsor clients. The SmartPlan Enterprise
solution from vWise seeks to provide the benefits of a personal financial
adviser to help organizations cut costs while increasing both plan enrollment
and participant contribution levels. |
| Giuliana Rivers joined benefits consulting firm
Mercer within its defined contribution (DC) advisory practice. Rivers is tasked
with providing operational and investment advisory support services to Mercer’s
defined contribution plan clients in Houston and throughout the central U.S.
markets. |
| DCIIA Offers Q&A About Automatic Plan Features |
| A paper answering commonly asked questions about
implementing automatic features for retirement plans is now available for plan
sponsors. “Implementing Automatic Features in Defined Contribution Plans:
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions” was recently released by the Defined
Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA). The aim of the paper
is to review best practices for implementing automatic features in defined
contribution (DC) plans and provide clarification about common regulatory
questions that plan sponsors and their advisers may have when putting automatic
plan features into practice. |
|
| Market Mirror |
| Yesterday, the Dow fell 166.84 points
(1.02%) to 16,245.87, the NASDAQ decreased 47.97 points (1.16%) to 4,079.75,
and the S&P 500 lost 20.05 points (1.08%) to finish at 1,845.04. The
Russell 2000 took a 16.60-points dive (1.53%) to finish at 1,135.78, and the
Wilshire 5000 closed 240.33 points (1.21%) lower at 19,637.27.
On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares traded,
with 2.6 declining issues for every advancing issue. On the NASDAQ, 2.7 billion
shares changed hands, with a near 3 to 1 lead for decliners.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note was up 7/32,
bringing its yield down to 2.698%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond
increased 18/32, decreasing its yield to 3.556%.
|
|
| Rules & Regulators |
| Not All Retirement Plans Must Be Amended for Windsor |
| Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Notice 2014-19
provides further instruction for qualified retirement plans about the
implications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor. Specifically, the notice gives examples
of Internal Revenue Code requirements under which the marital status of the
participants is relevant to the payment of benefits; provides guidance about
how to satisfy those requirements in light of Windsor and Revenue Ruling 2013-17; and describes when retirement
plans must be amended to comply with Windsor,
Revenue Ruling 2013-17, and IRS Notice 2014-19. |
|
| Small Talk |
| ON
THIS DATE: In
1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon
claimed Florida for Spain. In 1789, the
U.S. House of Representatives held its first meeting. In 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified, requiring direct
election of senators. In 1935,
Congress voted to approve the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a central
part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal.” In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed
the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act authorizing almost $5 million to
implement work-relief programs. Hoping to lift the country out of the crippling
Great Depression, Congress allowed the president to use the funds at his
discretion. The act was unprecedented and remains the largest system of
public-assistance relief programs in the nation’s history. It also created the
Works Progress Administration (WPA). In 1944,
Russian forces led by Marshal Fedor Tolbukhin attacked the German army in an
attempt to win back Crimea, in the southern Ukraine, occupied by the Axis
power. In 1974, Hank Aaron of the
Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth’s legendary
record of 714 homers. In 2013,
Margaret Thatcher, the first—and so far only—female prime
minister of the United Kingdom, died in London at age 87 from a stroke. In 1994, rock star Kurt Cobain was found
dead from sui.cide in his home outside Seattle, Washington.
TUESDAY
TRIVIA: The longest running daily newspaper in the U.S.
still in circulation is The Hartford
Courant, which began as the weekly Connecticut
Courant in 1764.
|
| TRIVIAL PURSUITS:
What are the top 25 U.S. newspapers by circulation? |
| Share the good news with a friend! Pass the Dash along – and tell your
friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy. |
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