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| The biggest financial fears keeping Americans up at night are being able to retire comfortably, cited by 30%, followed by health care expenses (19%) and affording their rent or mortgage (11%). Financial issues are so critical to Americans that 59% said they would rather discuss “the birds and the bees” with a stranger than their own financial situation.Read more > | |
| Ask the Experts | |
| Ask the Experts – When Hardship Suspensions Start | |
| “I realized that, per our retirement plan safe harbor provisions for hardship distributions, elective deferrals from all of our retirement plans are to be suspended for six months following the hardship withdrawal. But what is the specific date that the 6-month suspension period should begin? When the vendor received the hardship distribution paperwork from the employee? When the vendor issues the hardship distribution check? When the employee receives the hardship distribution check?”Read more > | |
| Economic Events | |
| Privately-owned housing starts in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,206,000, the Census Bureau reported. This is 6.5% above the revised August estimate of 1,132,000 and is 17.5% above the September 2014 rate of 1,026,000. Single-family housing starts in September were at a rate of 740,000—0.3% above the revised August figure of 738,000. The September rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 454,000. | |
| Market Mirror | |
Yesterday, the Dow was down 13.43 points (0.08%) at 17,217.11, the NASDAQ lost 24.50 points (0.50%) to finish at 4,880.97, and the S&P 500 decreased 2.89 points (0.14%) to 2,030.77. The Russell 2000 slipped 1.02 points (0.09%) to 1,163.27, and the Wilshire 5000 closed 29.62 points (0.14%) lower at 21,256.21. On the NYSE, 3.2 billion shares traded, with 1.6 advancing issues for every declining issue. On the NASDAQ, 2.7 billion shares changed hands, with a slight lead for decliners. The price of the 10-year Treasury note decreased 14/32, bringing its yield up to 2.067%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond fell 22/32, increasing its yield to 2.915%. | |
| Compliance | |
| Current Focus of the DOL | |
| According to Phyllis C. Borzi, assistant secretary of labor for the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) in Washington, D.C., the agency is focusing on two things: expanding retirement plan coverage and improving adequacy. At the American Retirement Association’s 2015 ASPPA Annual Conference, revealed some of the thoughts behind certain DOL initiatives, and asked for help from the industry.Read more > | |
| From the Magazine | |
| Plans with an adviser are more likely to operate in alignment with fiduciary best practices, among other things.Read more > | |
| Investing | |
| Is Retirement Industry’s Focus on Costs Too Much? | |
| Retirement plan fee litigation over the past decade, in addition to fee disclosure rules, has some plan sponsors placing too much importance on cost when deciding what investment decisions are prudent, asserted Eugene F. Maloney, executive vice president at Federated Investors, Inc. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Maloney told attendees of the American Retirement Association’s 2016 ASPPA Annual Conference that in its decision in Tibble v. Edison International, the U.S. Supreme Court noted that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) was based on then decades-old trust law. “Cost is the sixth factor to consider in determining whether something is prudent, based on trust law.”Read more > | |
| Small Talk | |
ON THIS DATE: In 1797, “Old Ironsides,” the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution, was launched in Boston’s harbor. In 1849, the first tattooed man, James F. O’Connell, was put on exhibition at the Franklin Theatre in New York City. In 1879, Thomas Edison invented the electric incandescent lamp. It would last 13 1/2 hours before it would burn out. In 1927, in New York City, construction began on the George Washington Bridge. In 1959, the Guggenheim Museum was opened to the public in New York. The building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1980, the Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series.
WEDNESDAY WISDOM: “The first wealth is health.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson | |
| 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 > |
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Editorial: Alison Cooke Mintzer alison.mintzer@strategic-i.com
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