| | Benefit Briefs | | Excise Tax Driving Change for Health Benefits | | A significant number of U.S. employers are
taking immediate steps to avoid triggering the excise tax on high cost health
plans in 2018, Aon Hewitt finds. According to an Aon Hewitt pulse survey of 317
U.S. employers, 40% expect the excise tax to affect at least one of their
current health plans in 2018, and 14% expect it to immediately impact the
majority of their current health benefit plans. However, one-quarter of
employers said they still have not yet determined the impact of the tax on
their health plans, and more than one-third reported that their executive
leadership and finance teams have limited or no knowledge of the implications
of the tax for their organizations.Read more > | | Two Accounts May Be Better Than One | | Maybe a workplace retirement plan alone does not
best meet the needs of younger workers, Research Affiliates says in a new white
paper. In “What Are We Doing to Our Young Investors?” Rob Arnott, chairman and
CEO of Research Affiliates, and Lillian Wu, researcher at Research Affiliates
and co-author of the report, suggest that since younger workers sometimes treat
their retirement accounts as rainy day funds, they should be able to put some
savings into an account separate from a 401(k) or other retirement plan that
could be accessed to meet emergency needs without penalties. One reason is the
timing of the investor’s entry into the market can be a critical factor in how
the investor comes to view savings and the market, Wu explains.Read more > | | | Buyer's Market | | Voya Financial Chairman and CEO Rodney Martin
Jr. has taken over direct leadership of the company’s retirement solutions
business. Martin will manage operations in Voya’s retirement services and
annuities segments, the firm explains. In connection with this change, Maliz
Beams, most recently the CEO of Voya Financial’s retirement solutions business,
is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.Read more > | | The Appeal of an 8-Basis Point TDF | | The recent evolution of target-date funds (TDFs),
like other investing programs popular with qualified retirement plan investors,
has been a story of falling fees. Jake Gilliam, managing director and portfolio
manager at Schwab Advisor Services, says investment providers active in the
retirement planning space are quite aware of the unfolding fee story. At
Schwab, one particular point of emphasis is the qualified default investment
alternative (QDIA), and the TDFs that often serve as a plan’s default option.Read more > | | Legal & General Investment Management
America, Inc. (LGIMA) announced that it has hired four executives to support
its expanding liability-driven investing (LDI) business. Matthew Cohen, Shawn
Fan, Ciaran Carr, and Jeff Eberhardt are joining the Chicago-based registered
investment adviser’s LDI business. LGIMA specializes in fixed-income strategies
with an emphasis on LDI and de-risking solutions.Read more > | | Principal Funds has premiered two funds designed
to meet client demand for flexible fixed-income strategies. The Principal
Credit Opportunities Explorer Fund (PCEAX) and the Principal Dynamic High Yield
Explorer Fund (PDYAX) are both are available to institutional investors.Read more > | | The Principal Unveils Retirement Wellness Scores | | The Principal Financial Group has introduced a
personalized, at-a-glance retirement wellness scoring system for retirement
plan participants. The Principal says the personalized Retirement Wellness
Score is one feature of a broad new participant digital experience it is bringing
to retirement plan clients. As explained by the firm, the score represents the
percentage of a participant’s pre-retirement income that they will likely be
able to maintain in retirement, ranging from 0% to 100% or higher. The score is
based on account balances; contribution levels in defined contribution, defined
benefit and nonqualified plans; an estimate of income from Social Security;
outside savings entered by the participant; and other assumptions and data.Read more > | | | Industry Voice | | Barry’s Pickings: An ERISA Report Card | | I began practicing law in 1976, the year the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) became effective, and spent my
first 12 months puzzling through things such as ERISA’s hours-of-service rules.
It was a strange adventure, going from studying torts and constitutional law to
trying to get my head around the idea that if you worked 1,000 hours in a plan
year—what was a plan year?—you got a “year of service.”Read more > | | | Economic Events | | In the week
ending October 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims
for unemployment insurance was 264,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous
week’s unrevised level of 287,000, the Labor Department reported. This is the
lowest level for initial claims since April 15, 2000, when it was 259,000. The four-week
moving average was 283,500, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week’s unrevised
average of 287,750. This is the lowest level for this average since June 10,
2000, when it was 283,500.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate
mortgage is 3.97%, down from 4.12% one week ago, according to Freddie Mac. The
average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.18%, down from
3.30%.
| | | Market Mirror | | Thursday, the Dow was down 24.50 points
(0.15%) at 16,117.24, the NASDAQ ticked up 2.07 points (0.05%) to 4,217.39, and
the S&P 500 increased by 0.27 (0.01%) to finish at 1,862.76. the Russell
2000 climbed 13.36 points (1.25%) to 1,085.81, and the Wilshire 5000 closed
65.27 points (0.33%) higher at 19,682.83.
On the NYSE, 3.3 billion shares changed
hands, with 2.3 advancing issues for every declining issue. On the NASDAQ, 2.8
billion shares traded, with a more than 2 to 1 lead for advancers.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note slipped 4/32,
increasing its yield to 2.153%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond was down
11/32, bringing its yield up to 2.937%.
| | | Rules & Regulators | | IRS Posts Reminder About Two Compliance Issues | | The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)’s review of
Virgin Island plan sponsors signaled a need to remind all plan sponsors about
two important issues. The IRS said it found a few plan sponsors in its review
that either did not have adequate fidelity bonding or did not deposit
contributions by the required deadlines. Under the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act (ERISA), plan sponsors are required to secure fidelity bonds to
protect the plan against loss because of fraud or dishonesty by any plan
fiduciary or someone who handles the plan’s assets.Read more > | | | The World at Large | | Retirement plan providers should do more to
explain retirement plans in layman’s terms on websites, according to smaller
employers in the UK.Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON
THIS DATE: In 1888,
the first issue of “National Geographic Magazine” was released at
newsstands. In 1931, gangster Al
Capone, one of the most notorious criminals of the 1920s and 1930s, was
sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion and fined $80,000. In 1933, “News-Week” appeared
for the first time at newsstands. The name was later changed to
“Newsweek.” In 1960,
R&B group the Drifters earned a No. 1 pop hit with “Save the Last
Dance For Me.” In 1973, the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) implemented what it
called “oil diplomacy,” prohibiting any nation that had supported Israel
in its “Yom Kippur War” with Egypt, Syria and Jordan from buying any
of the oil it sells. The ensuing energy crisis marked the end of the era of
cheap gasoline and caused the share value of the New York Stock Exchange to
drop by $97 billion. This, in turn, ushered in one of the worst recessions the
United States had ever seen. In 1979,
Mother Teresa of India was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
And now it’s time for FRIDAY FILES!
| | This hamster needs to be taught how to use its
running wheel.Read more > | | In Riverside, Illinois,
police received several calls about a driver who appeared to be in medical
distress and had passed out at the wheel of her car. According to the Chicago
Tribune, as officers approached the vehicle, they saw a woman who was slumped
over the wheel with the keys still in the ignition. They tried to wake the
woman by banging on the car’s windows but she did not wake up. All the doors
were locked and it appeared her foot was on the brake when she passed out. One
of the officers then maneuvered his squad car in front and the other officer
parked his in the back of the woman’s car to prevent an accident. The officers
then got a lockout tool and attempted to unlock the doors, but as they tried, the
woman awoke, slammed on the gas and struck the police vehicle stationed in
front of her car. The woman, who was extremely confused and disoriented at the
scene, admitted to smoking a small amount of pot and to having two be.ers.
In Phoenix, Arizona, a
patient badly wanted out of a hospital. So badly, that he highjacked a parked
ambulance outside West Valley Hospital. According to the Associated Press, a
firefighter sitting in the back was able to jump out safely. Police pursued the
patient, who failed to pull over. They later used GPS to locate the vehicle and
the patient at his home in the suburb of Avondale. The man was arrested on
charges of theft of means of transportation, felony flight, failure to yield to
police and disorderly conduct.
| | An amazing—and a little scary—shark frenzy at a
North Carolina beach.Read more > | | In LaCrosse, Wisconsin, two
men walked up to a woman and attempted to rob her. However, she pointed out the
security cameras at the jail nearby, and they let her walk away, according to
WKBT. The woman called 911, the police looked at the camera video, and later
picked up the men on another street.
In Hammock Dunes, Florida, a
Missouri couple bought a lot in a gated resort community and hired builders to
construct a rental property on the lot. It took six months for the builders to
complete the $680,000, 5,300-square-foot rental home with an ocean view. But,
the Missouri couple just learned the dream home actually sits on the lot next
to the one they own, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. The builder
has contacted the owner of the lot and is trying to negotiate a settlement.
| | 30 Unusual Wills (This one is kind of long—nine
minutes—but interesting.)Read more > | | In Guangyuan, China, an
85-year-old woman was washing her false teeth when they slipped out of her hand
and fell into her toi.let. She reached in and tried to get the teeth out of the
hole . On trying to stand up, she found she had become stuck, the UK’s Mirror
reports. An hour later, her daughter-in-law found her on the floor of the
bathroom. She couldn’t free the arm, so she phoned emergency services. It took
firefighters four hours to free the woman’s arm.
Somewhere in Minnesota, on
the eve of her 114th birthday, Anna Stoehr decided to join Facebook. However, Anna
noticed 1900, the year she was born, was not listed as an option when she
registered her date of birth to the site—which only stretches as far back as
1905, the UK’s Metro reports. So, Stoehr lied about her age. She typed a
letter—on a typewriter—to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, calling attention
to the problem and saying, ‘I’m still here.’
Here’s hoping we all have to similarly lie about
our age someday. 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
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