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| Products, Deals and People | |
| To help people make progress toward having enough retirement savings, Principal has launched the Move to the Green Challenge. Individuals do not have to have a retirement account with Principal in order to participate.Read more > | |
| Economic Events | |
Privately owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,172,000, the Census Bureau reported. This is 6.6% above the revised March estimate of 1,099,000, but is 1.7% below the April 2015 rate of 1,192,000. Single-family housing starts in April were at a rate of 778,000, 3.3% above the revised March figure of 753,000. The April rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 373,000. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4% in April after rising 0.1% in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2% in April after rising 0.1% in March. Real average hourly earnings decreased 0.1% in April, seasonally adjusted. Average hourly earnings increased 0.3%, and the CPI-U increased 0.4%. Real average weekly earnings increased 0.2% over the month. | |
| Sponsored message from MetLife | |
| Pension Risk Transfer Pulse. Get the latest findings from a recent MetLife poll.Read more > | |
| Market Mirror | |
Tuesday, major U.S. stock indices erased gains from a rally Monday. Utilities and consumer goods companies fell the most, according to the Associated Press. The Dow lost 180.73 points (1.02%) to finish at 17,529.98, the NASDAQ closed 59.73 points (1.25%) lower at 4,715.73, and the S&P 500 decreased 21.28 points (1.03%) to 2,045.38. The Russell 2000 was down 18.54 points (1.66%) at 1,097.67, and the Wilshire 5000 fell 209.13 points (0.98%) to 21,132.34. On the NYSE, 3.1 billion shares traded, with declining issues outnumbering advancing issues nearly 2 to1. On the NASDAQ, 2.7 billion shares changes hands, with a near 3 to 1 lead for decliners. The price of the 10-year Treasury bond was down 2/32, increasing its yield to 1.765%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond was up 3/32, decreasing its yield to 2.593%. | |
| Compliance | |
| Former Plan Administrator in Contempt of Court Order Arrested | |
| The DOL accused John Koresko V and other defendants of siphoning money from death benefit plans.Read more > | |
| IRS Issues Final Rules for Allocating Roth Distributions | |
| The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued final regulations eliminating the requirement that each disbursement from a designated Roth retirement plan account that is directly rolled over to an eligible retirement plan be treated as a separate distribution from any amount paid directly to the employee and therefore separately subject to the rule in section 72(e)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) allocating pre-tax and after-tax amounts to each distribution.Read more > | |
| Wellness Program Rules Provide Clarification and Simplification | |
| The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued two final rules that explain how Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) apply to wellness programs offered by employers that request health information from employees and their spouses. Tami Simon, employee benefits attorney and global practice leader of Xerox HR Services’ Knowledge Resource Center in Washington, D.C., tells PLANSPONSOR the EEOC has been grappling with how a plan can tie incentives to wellness programs and still be voluntary and not coercive or discriminatory. “It decided it can live with a 30% of the total cost of self-only coverage incentive, but employers must meet other requirements to make sure the plan is voluntary, promotes health and does not discriminate,” she says.Read more > | |
| From the Magazine | |
| Plan Sponsors Opt for Apolitical | |
| In a year which stark political battle lines are being drawn, one is unlikely to find a similar divide among employers sponsoring defined contribution (DC) plans. Instead, when it comes to helping employees save and invest for retirement through DC plan design, plan sponsors regularly opt for “apolitical.”Read more > | |
| Investing | |
| April was a light trading month for 401(k) investors, according to the Aon Hewitt 401(k) Index. The asset classes with the most inflows were fixed income funds.Read more > | |
| Small Talk | |
| Mother’s Day has passed this year, and finder.com has tallied up how much Americans spent on Mom. Its research suggests that the average American spent $124 on their Mother’s Day gifts this year, adding up to a grand total of $30.309 billion. Sons were more generous, spending almost double than what daughters spent. The research also finds Americans are not planning to be as generous to Dad.Read more > | |
ON THIS DATE: In 1798, the first Secretary of the U.S. Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, was appointed. In 1897, a public reading of Bram Stoker’s new novel, “Dracula, or, The Un-dead,” was performed in London. In 1917, the U.S. Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which called up soldiers to fight in World War I. In 1934, the U.S. Congress approved the “Lindberg Act,” which called for the death penalty in interstate kidnapping cases. In 1951, the United Nations moved its headquarters to New York City. In 1953, the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound, Jacqueline Cochran, piloted an F-86 Sabrejet over California at an average speed of 652.337 miles per hour. In 1983, the U.S. Senate revised immigration laws and, under an amnesty program, gave legal status to millions of people living in the country illegally. In 2012, Facebook Inc. held its initial public offering and began trading on the NASDAQ. The company was valued at $104 billion, making it the largest valuation to date for a newly listed public company. WEDNESDAY WISDOM: “The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become.”—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer | |
| Share the good 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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