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| Economic Events | |
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 156,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.7%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job growth occurred in health care and social assistance. New orders for manufactured goods in November, down following four consecutive monthly increases, decreased $11.3 billion or 2.4% to $458.3 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. This followed a 2.8% October increase. THE ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: Tomorrow, the Census Bureau will report about wholesale orders for November. Thursday, the Labor Department will issue its initial claims report. Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will reveal the producer price index for December, and the Census Bureau will report about retail sales for December and business orders for November. | |
| Sponsored message from DST Systems | |
| A Call to Action: Improving the Rollover Experience Post-DOL Renewed opportunities to improve the outdated approach to IRA rollovers.Read more > | |
| Market Mirror | |
Friday, the Dow increased 64.51 points (0.32%) to 19,963.80, the NASDAQ gained 33.12 points (0.60%) to finish at 5,521.06, and the S&P 500 closed 7.98 points (0.35%) higher at 2,276.98. The Russell 2000 was down 4.65 points (0.34%) at 1,367.28, and the Wilshire 5000 was up 67.94 points (0.29%) at 23,816.56. On the NYSE, 3.1 billion shares changed hands, and on the NASDAQ, 2.9 billion shares traded, with a slight lead for declining issues on both exchanges. The price of the 10-year Treasury note decreased 19/32, bringing its yield up to 2.420%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond fell 1 4/32, increasing its yield to 3.004%. WEEK’S WORTH: For the week ending January 6, the Dow increased 1.02%, the NASDAQ climbed 2.56%, and the S&P 500 gained 1.70%. The Russell 2000 was up 0.75%, and the Wilshire 5000 finished 1.67% higher. | |
| Compliance | |
| 2017 Premium Filing Instructions Updated by PBGC | |
| A new guidance document released by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) outlines the process for measuring and paying the two kinds of annual premiums owed by pension plan sponsors in 2017.Read more > | |
| From the Magazine | |
| Targeting Financial Wellness | |
| Financial wellness has become a hot topic. Employers that are thinking about starting a financial-wellness program should remember a couple of keys to effectiveness.Read more > | |
| Addressing Allocation Issues | |
| Target-date funds’ (TDFs) rapid growth continues to reshape participant portfolios. At the end of this year’s third quarter, 44% of Fidelity’s 401(k) participants had a 100% allocation to the funds. Among participants ages 20 through 29, 72% are 100% invested in a target-date fund. To ensure correct use of TDFs plan sponsors can think about doing a “back-sweep” re-enrollment of active participants who did not make an affirmative election into their plan’s default investment.Read more > | |
| Investing | |
| Including private equity into the asset class mix of a defined contribution (DC) plan participant’s target-date fund (TDF) could generate additional savings of $484,168, according to a new study.Read more > | |
| Small Talk | |
| ON THIS DATE: In 1793, Jean-Pierre Blanchard made the first successful balloon flight in the U.S. In 1788, Connecticut became the 5th state to join the United States. In 1848, the first commercial bank was established in San Francisco. In 1861, the state of Mississippi seceded from the United States. In 1894, the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company put the first battery-operated switchboard into operation in Lexington, Massachusetts. In 1951, the United Nations headquarters officially opened in New York City. In 1986, Kodak got out of the instant camera business after 10 years due to a loss in a court battle that claimed that Kodak copied Polaroid patents. In 1991, the U.S. Secretary of State and Iraqi foreign minister Aziz met for 61/2 hours in Geneva, but failed to reach any agreement that would forestall war in the Persian Gulf. In 2002, the U.S. Justice Department announced that it was pursuing a criminal investigation of Enron Corp. The company had filed for bankruptcy on December 2, 2001. In 2006, Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane received stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in a dual ceremony. | |
| SURVEY SAYS RESPONSES: Many providers offer tools that help retirement plan participants determine whether they are on track to replace a sufficient amount of income in retirement. Last week, I asked NewsDash readers, “Have you used such a tool, did you believe the results or take them seriously, and how did the results make you feel?” A vast majority (95.7%) have used a retirement readiness or retirement income projection tool, while 4.3% have not. Nearly two-thirds (64.4%) indicated they believed the results and took them seriously, but 35.6% did not. The results made 47.7% of responding readers feel encouraged; 6.8% discouraged; and 45.4% neither encouraged nor discouraged. Among verbatim comments, many responding readers pointed out that these types of tools don’t take into account everything and should be taken with a “grain of salt.” However, even those that doubted their accuracy indicated it is a good guideline to get participants more engaged in their retirement savings. Editor’s Choice goes to the reader who said: “There are way too many variables in a person’s life over the next 20 – 40 years to put a lot of stock in those projections. For someone who has not done a lot of planning I have seen it be a great motivational tool to show them their future life of poverty if they don’t make some changes.” A big thank you to all who participated in the survey!Read more > | |
| Share the news with a friend! Pass the NewsDash along—and tell your friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > |
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Editorial: Alison Cooke Mintzer alison.mintzer@strategic-i.com
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