| | Benefit Briefs | | Regulations Could Calm Fears About Income Solutions | | With the aging and impending retirement of the
Baby Boomers—basically the first generation to work something like a full
career under the defined contribution (DC) system—the retirement plan industry’s
attention is shifting from accumulation to decumulation. “This all comes out of
the fact that the number one question and fear for a lot of people is, ‘Am I
going to have enough money in the 401(k) to support myself for a lengthy
retirement?’” explains Tim McCabe with Stadion Money Management. “Both for
in-plan and out-of-plan lifetime income products, we’re seeing tremendous
interest from literally all of the major providers in the industry, certainly
all the partners we work with.” Importantly, McCabe adds, as of yet, there is little
consensus on the best way to do lifetime income both inside and outside the
plan environment. This makes it difficult for participants to get affordable
lifetime income, or even to get sound guidance about some reasonable income
strategies, he says.Read more > | | | Buyer's Market | | Small and mid-size businesses have a new
nonqualified deferred compensation (NQDC) plan option from The Principal
Financial Group. The new Modified Cash Surrender Value rider, available with
Executive Variable Universal Life II (Executive VUL II), brings new choice and
flexibility for employers looking to informally finance their NQDC plans,
according to the company.Read more > | | Lincoln Financial Unveils Secured Income Product | | Lincoln Financial Group’s retirement plan
services business launched the Lincoln Secured Retirement Income investment
option, a guaranteed withdrawal benefit (GWB) designed to provide guaranteed
income for life. Lincoln says the product is designed to protect retirement
plan participants’ savings from market declines while also allowing for gains
from rising markets. The investment option is available as a qualified default
investment alternative (QDIA), taking the form of a custom target-date solution
within Lincoln’s LifeSpan administrative platform or as a standalone
investment.Read more > | | | Economic Events | | The Census
Bureau announced that total inventories of merchant wholesalers, except
manufacturers’ sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal
variations but not for price changes, were $538.0 billion at the end of August,
up 0.7% from the revised July level and up 7.9% from the August 2013 level. The
July preliminary estimate was revised upward $0.7 billion or 0.1%. August
inventories of durable goods were up 0.8% from last month and were up 8.5% from
a year ago. Inventories of computer and computer peripheral equipment and
software were up 4.5% from last month and inventories of lumber and other
construction materials were up 1.5%. Inventories of nondurable goods were up
0.5% from July and up 6.9% from last August. Inventories of drugs and
druggists’ sundries were up 1.6% from last month.
In the week
ending October 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for
unemployment insurance was 287,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous
week’s revised level, the Labor Department reported. The four-week moving
average was 287,750, a decrease of 7,250 from the previous week’s revised
average. This is the lowest level for this average since February 4, 2006, when
it was 286,500.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
is 4.12%, down from 4.19% one week ago, according to Freddie Mac. The average
interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.30%, down from 3.36%.
| | | Market Mirror | | On Thursday, major U.S. stock indices
wiped out any gains made Wednesday, as the Dow fell 334.97 points (1.97%) to
16,659.25. The NASDAQ dropped 90.26 points (2.02%) to 4,378.34, and the S&P
500 lost 40.68 points (2.07%) to finish at 1,928.21. The Russell 2000 closed
29.13 points (2.66%) lower at 1,067.99, and the Wilshire 5000 plummeted 442.68
points (2.14%) to 20,234.90.
On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares changed
hands, with declining issues outnumbering advancing issues more than 7 to 1. On
the NASDAQ, 2.7 billion shares traded, with a more than 6 to 1 lead for
decliners.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note slipped 1/32,
bringing its yield up to 2.327%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond was
unchanged, with its yield at 3.060%.
| | | Rules & Regulators | | Regulators Issue Final Rules for ACA Excepted Benefits | | The Departments of Health and Human Services
(HHS), Labor (DOL) and the Treasury have issued final rules about benefits that
may be exempt from certain health reform requirements. The final rules
provide guidance about when certain dental, vision and long-term care benefits
are considered excepted benefits, and thus, not subject to the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance market reforms. They also
provide guidance about conditions under which Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
qualify as excepted benefits.Read more > | | Court Moves Forward Citigroup 401(k) Excessive Fee Suit | | Participants in the Citigroup 401(k) plan can
move forward with their claims that plan fiduciaries violated the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by offering affiliated funds in the plan
that charged excessive fees. U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein of the U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of New York found the participants’
claims were not filed outside ERISA’s statute of limitations. The Citigroup
defendants point to documents distributed to participants listing the fees and
effectively disclosing the affiliated status of the funds as evidence the
participants had “actual knowledge” of the alleged breach. However, Stein found
the defendants presented no evidence that participants knew that the affiliated
funds’ fees were higher than alternatives with comparable performance.Read more > | | | Financial Sense | | Too Early to Hit the PIMCO Panic Button | | Plan sponsors should not be upset by outflows
from the Total Return Fund and the abrupt departure of Bill Gross, PIMCO’s lead
portfolio manager, sources say. Ebola is a bigger threat to the market right now than
Bill Gross, according to Robert C. Lawton, president of Lawton Retirement Plan
Consultants LLC in Milwaukee. First, Lawton tells PLANSPONSOR, the months of
outflows from PIMCO in no way resemble a run on an individual bank, and the
situation differs greatly from previous examples wherein the falling out of an
investment manager and his employer caused significant disruptions in firm
operations.Read more > | | | The Feeling’s Mutual | | Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) says it
has strengthened its fixed income fund platform through changes to the Goldman
Sachs Core Plus Fixed Income Fund. The fund has been rebranded into the Goldman
Sachs Bond Fund and is available in multiple share classes, including
lower-priced institutional classes. The fund offers investors a globally
diversified approach to fixed income, according to GSAM.Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON
THIS DATE: In
1845, the United States Naval
Academy opened in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1886,
the tuxedo dinner jacket made its U.S. debut in New York City. In 1887, Thomas Edison organized the
Edison Phonograph Company. In 1977,
Joe Namath played the last game of his National Football League (NFL) career.
In 1978, the U.S. bill authorizing
the Susan B. Anthony dollar was signed by President Jimmy Carter.
And now it’s time for FRIDAY FILES!
| | Ever have one of those days when things just
feel off kilter? This truck driver certainly has.Read more > | | What news anchors do during commercial breaks.Read more > | | In Detroit, Michigan, a
homeowner is offering to trade his home for an iPhone 6. The man’s real estate
broker told the local Fox News station, “My client is overseas and he told
me he would be willing to trade the property for an iPhone 6. It sounds to me
like he wants the (iPhone 6+) version, but I think he’s willing to
negotiate.” The house—a definite fixer-upper—is currently on the market
for $3,000, and there’s an additional $6,000 of back taxes owed on the home.
The broker added that the homeowner would even be open to trading the house for
a 32 gigabyte iPad.
In Oconto County, Wisconsin, a man and woman were taken into custody by Sheriff’s deputies after their car was
spotted drifting into oncoming traffic. Both admitted they had been drinking
and two open cans of be.er were found on the car’s floorboard. According to The
Smoking Gun, both were placed in the back of an officer’s car, but while transporting
the suspects, the deputy heard moaning and saw questionable activity in the
rear view mirror. The officer stopped the cruiser, opened the rear door, and confirmed
what he thought they were doing. Both were charged with lewd and las.civious
conduct in addition to their other charges.
| | In London,
England, a tractor trailer truck got stock under a bridge. Not noteworthy
news—except for the irony of the company logo printed on the back.Read more > | | In New York, New York,
federal agents received information that a mail deliverer had undelivered mail
in his personal vehicle. When he was confronted, the man told agents he had
been keeping undelivered mail in his car for the past six months, noting that
“on some days he did not deliver the mail intended for his route for various
personal reasons,” The Smoking Gun reports. According
to a U.S. District Court criminal complaint, the man consented to a search of
his car, locker, and home. Agents recovered “approximately 2,500 pounds of U.S.
mail, some postmarked as early as 2005.” The man is charged with felony mail
hoarding.
In Columbus, Ohio, a woman
was so upset about an unflattering mug shot posted on Facebook, she called the
police department and demanded it be taken down. The mug shot was part of a
weekly roundup called “Warrant Wednesday” the Columbus Police Department posts
on its Facebook page. The woman was wanted for robbing an acquaintance at
gu.npoint. The Huffington Post reports the woman contacted the detective listed
on the post and said she wanted her picture down. The detective told her to
come to the station so they could talk about it, which she did—and was
arrested.
In Glastonbury,
Connecticut, a 43-year-old woman was finally arrested after police say she called
911 162 times since 2007, including 24 times this year alone. According to the local NBC station, police said
they warned her multiple times to stop calling about non-emergencies, but that
she didn’t listen. She was arrested and charged with misuse of 911 and falsely
reporting an incident. She called once to complain her CDs were scratched and
another time saying her phone was being monitored.
Have a great weekend,
everyone! | | Share the good news with a friend! Pass the Dash along – and tell your
friends/associates they can sign up for their own copy.Read more > | | News from PLANSPONSOR.com
Copyright © Asset International, Inc.,
2014.
All
rights reserved. No reproduction without
prior authorization.
|
|
| |
