| | Webcast Event | | Join us this Thursday for the webcast, “The ‘KEY’ to Fiduciary Freedom: 3(38) & 3(16).”Read more > | | | Benefits & Administration | | Think Multiemployer Pension Insolvencies Aren’t Your Problem? | | A new report published by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) says that while most multiemployer plans are financially stable, a growing number have been identified under federal law as “critical and declining.” The SOA’s report shows approximately 11,600 employers contribute to these financially stressed plans. Broadly speaking, many of these plans are at risk of becoming insolvent within fewer than 10 years, the research warns. Such insolvencies will obviously be harmful to the participants and beneficiaries of the plans in question, but the loss of the significant economic momentum provided by retirees spending their pension plan assets could also harm the wider economy.Read more > | | Other Financial Issues Impacting Retirement Confidence and Savings | | Not having enough emergency savings for unexpected expenses is the most frequently cited financial concern for Millennial (48%) and Generation X (51%) employees, while not being able to retire when they want to is the most frequently cited concern among Baby Boomers (46%), according to the 2018 edition of PwC’s Employee Financial Wellness Survey. While employees are grappling with things like higher health care costs, financially supporting other family members and debt, the study finds they are not always taking the right steps to manage these issues and to invest and save for retirement adequately.Read more > |
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| | Market Mirror | Yesterday, the Dow climbed 298.20 points (1.21%) to 25,013.29, the NASDAQ was up 39.70 points (0.54%) at 7,394.04, and the S&P 500 closed 20.04 points (0.74%) higher at 2,733.01. The Russell 2000 increased 10.81 points (0.66%) to 1,637.44, and the Wilshire 5000 gained 232.09 points (0.82%) to finish at 28,498.68. The price of the 10-year Treasury note was up 2/32, and the price of the 30-year Treasury bond was up 1/32, decreasing their yields to 3.053% and 3.197%, respectively. | | | Compliance | | Plan Sponsor Interpretation Must Be Given Deference in Lawsuits Challenging Plan Terms | | The 6th Circuit noted that Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, in which an arbitrary-and-capricious standard of review is required by the court if the plan “gives the administrator or fiduciary discretionary authority to determine eligibility for benefits or to construe the terms of the plan,” should have been used by the district court in a case challenging the calculation of lump-sum payments from a defined benefit (DB) plan.Read more > | | | From the Magazine | | Helping Workers Measure Retirement Readiness | | Much has been written about retirement-age workers hanging onto employment due to insufficient savings, costing disproportionate amounts in benefits and salaries and blocking young workers’ career path. But they can also retire earlier than expected, “creat[ing] gaps in knowledge and disruption to business units or divisions and to talent transitions,” says Jonathan Price, vice president and consulting actuary at Sibson Consulting. Either way, employers should know how to help workers achieve retirement readiness, including how to measure their progress, so all will be prepared.Read more > | | | Investing | | Smart Beta Survey Highlights Opportunity, Need for Education | | FTSE Russell published its 2018 Global Institutional Smart Beta Survey which found the vast majority (91%) of institutional asset owners globally have a smart beta investment allocation, have evaluated or are planning to evaluate smart beta in the next 18 months. The survey further shows a 16% increase in implementation or consideration over past five years. Still, there is some lingering uncertainty about the role of smart beta investing, as more than 50% of asset owners in the U.S. and United Kingdom say they remain uncertain on the best approach for their particular purposes.Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON THIS DATE: In 1761, in Philadelphia, the first life insurance policy was issued in the U.S. In 1841, Henry Kennedy received a patent for the first reclining chair. In 1849, Abraham Lincoln received a patent for the floating dry dock. In 1859, the creator of “Sherlock Holmes,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was born. In 1872, the Amnesty Act restored civil rights to Southerners. In 1892, Dr. Washington Sheffield invented the toothpaste tube. In 1900, the Associated Press was incorporated as a non-profit news cooperative in New York. In 1906, the Wright brothers received a patent for their flying machine. In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was enacted by Congress to appropriate military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece. In 1967, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” premiered on PBS. In 1972, President Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Russia. He met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. In 1977, Janet Guthrie set the fastest time of the second weekend of qualifying, becoming the first woman to earn a starting spot in the Indianapolis 500 since its inception in 1911. In 1985, Pete Rose passed Hank Aaron as National League run scoring leader with 2,108. In 1992, Johnny Carson hosted NBC’s “Tonight Show” for the last time. He had been the host for 30 years. In 2002, in Birmingham, Alabama, a jury convicted former Ku K.lux Kla.nsman Bobby Frank Cherry of mur.der in the 1963 church bom.bing that killed four girls. In 2003, at the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, Annika Sorenstam became the first woman to play on the PGA tour in 58 years. She ended the day at 1-over par. | | TRIVIAL PURSUITS: When someone comes close to winning or accomplishing something but doesn’t actually do so, a person may say, “Close, but no cigar.” From where did the phrase “Close, but no cigar,” originate?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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