| | Benefit Briefs | | Total Retirement Assets Reach $24 Trillion | | Total U.S. retirement assets reached $24
trillion as of June 30, up 2.8% from $23.4 trillion measured on March 31. According
to an analysis from the Investment Company Institute (ICI), $5.1 trillion is in
government defined benefit (DB) plans, $3.2 trillion in private-sector DB plans,
and $6.6 trillion in defined contribution (DC) plans. The analysis also found unfunded
liabilities are a larger issue for government DB plans than for private-sector
DB plans.Read more > | | | Industry Voices | | Insights: Problems, Solved? | | My vision of retirement as I grew up was
provided to me by my grandfathers; both were beneficiaries of long tenures at
large companies—one in pharmaceuticals, and one in book publishing. Both
grandfathers not only received generous pensions (and one, a marvelous retiree
medical package) but had been good savers, truly having a three-legged stool on
which to sit during their golden years. They had what I might refer to now as
“brochure” retirements—two residences, one in their traditional home location
in the Northeast and one in warmer climates, and they had time to pursue
activities they loved. Did my grandfathers know that the life they led in
retirement was due in large part to a 1974 law called the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act (ERISA)?Read more > | | | Economic Events | | New orders
for manufactured durable goods in August decreased $54.5 billion or 18.2% to
$245.4 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced. This decrease, down following
two consecutive monthly increases, followed a 22.5% July increase. Excluding
transportation, new orders increased 0.7%. Excluding defense, new orders
decreased 19.0%. Transportation equipment, also down following two consecutive
monthly increases, drove the decrease, falling $55.6 billion or 42.0% to $76.8
billion.
In the week
ending September 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims
for unemployment insurance was 293,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous
week’s revised level, the Labor Department reported. The previous week’s level
was revised up by 1,000 from 280,000 to 281,000. The four-week moving average
was 298,500, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous
week’s average was revised up by 250 from 299,500 to 299,750.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate
mortgage is 4.20%, down from 4.23% one week ago, according to Freddie Mac. The
average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 3.36%, down from
3.37%.
| | | Market Mirror | | Major U.S. stock indices suffered big
losses Thursday, as the Dow fell 264.26 points (1.54%) to 16,945.80. The NASDAQ
lost 88.47 points (1.94%) to finish at 4,466.75, and the S&P 500 declined
32.31 points (1.62%) to 1,965.99. The Russell 2000 dropped 18.07 points (1.60%)
to 1,110.24, and the Wilshire 5000 tumbled 330.85 points (1.57%) to 20,707.32.
On the NYSE, 3.3 billion shares traded,
with a near 5 to 1 lead for decliners. On the NASDAQ, 2.8 billion shares
changed hands, with declining issues outnumbering advancing issues more than 4
to 1.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note was up 16/32,
bringing its yield down to 2.508%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond
increased 1 6/32, decreasing its yield to 3.215%.
| | | Rules & Regulators | | IRS Expands Rules for Health Coverage Changes | | The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has added to
the list of events for which employer health plan participants can change their
coverage election at a time other than open enrollment. Notice 2014-55
addresses two specific situations in which an Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section
125 cafeteria plan participant may wish to revoke, during a period of coverage
(commonly a plan year), his or her election for employer-sponsored health
coverage under the cafeteria plan in order to purchase a qualified health plan
through the federal exchange or a health insurance marketplace established by
the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).Read more > | | PLANSPONSOR magazine’s September summary of the
latest from Washington and the courts—what’s coming, what’s contemplated and
what’s critical to plan sponsors.Read more > | | | Financial Sense | | Motorola Announces Pension Transfer, Lump-Sum Window | | Motorola Solutions, Inc. has reached an
agreement with The Prudential Insurance Company of America under which
Prudential will assume responsibility for the monthly pension benefits of
Motorola retirees. Motorola also will offer eligible U.S. pension plan
participants the opportunity to apply for lump-sum pension payments. In total,
these actions are expected to reduce Motorola Solutions’ ongoing U.S. pension
obligation by $4.2 billion. The company plans to contribute $1.1 billion in
cash to its U.S. pension plans in 2014.Read more > | | The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is
said to be investigating the pricing of PIMCO’s $3.6 billion Total Return
exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the latest blow for the manager. The Wall Street
Journal reported that the SEC was looking into whether PIMCO had misstated the
ETF’s returns, which is designed to be a low-cost alternative to founder and
CIO Bill Gross’ flagship PIMCO Total Return fund. The newspaper reported that
the investigation “has been underway for some months”, and claimed Gross had been
interviewed by the SEC.Read more > | | CalPERS Gets $88M from Citigroup Settlement | | The California Public Employees’ Retirement
System (CalPERS) has $88 million more in its investment portfolio thanks to a
payment received as part of a global settlement reached by government officials
with Citigroup in July. The global settlement required Citigroup to pay $7
billion, based on its conduct in packaging, issuing and selling residential
mortgage-backed securities prior to 2009. California received a total of $102
million in damages and $90 million in consumer relief.Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON
THIS DATE: In 1580,
English seaman Francis Drake returned to Plymouth, England, in the Golden Hind, becoming the first British
navigator to sail around Earth. In 1789,
Thomas Jefferson was appointed America’s first Secretary of State; John Jay was
appointed the first chief justice of the U.S.; Samuel Osgood was appointed the
first Postmaster-General; and Edmund Jennings Randolph was appointed the first
Attorney General. In 1820, the
pioneering frontiersman Daniel Boone died quietly in his sleep at his son’s
home near present-day Defiance, Missouri. He was 86. In 1914, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was established. In 1957, West Side Story, composed by Leonard Bernstein, opened at the
Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway. In 1962,
“The Beverly Hillbillies” premiered on CBS-TV. In 1964, “Gilligan’s Island”
premiered on CBS-TV. In 1969, “The
Brady Bunch” premiered on ABC. In 1990,
the Motion Picture Association of America announced that it had created a new
rating. The new NC17 rating was to keep moviegoers under the age of 17 from
seeing certain films. In 2008, Paul
Newman, one of the leading movie stars of the 20th century, died at the age of
83 from cancer at his home in Westport, Connecticut.
And now it’s time for FRIDAY FILES!
| | Ever suffered a “brain freeze” while eating or
drinking something cold? Do you want to know why?Read more > | | In Auckland, New Zealand, a
man is facing sentencing for stealing more than $100,000 after his bank
mistakenly transferred the money into his account. Eight days after the bank
transferred $141,991 into his account in error, it froze his spending, but that
was not before he had spent a significant chunk of it, The New Zealand Herald
reports. The man, a 32-year-old qualified chef, admitted stealing $106,217.
“It was his addiction to gambling and an unwise series of decisions,”
his attorney told a court. The judge said he will sentence the man in November,
but in the meantime, the bank added the debt to his account, meaning he has a
six-figure overdraft.
In Melbourne, Australia, a veterinarian said a 10-year-old goldfish named George underwent
surgery last week to remove a brain tumor that was “affecting his quality
of life” and the fish is now “swimming happily in the pond.”
According to UPI, the procedure took about 45 minutes and cost the goldfish’s
owner about $180. The vet said goldfish surgeries are uncommon, but he has
performed about 10 similar procedures in his career.
| | Luckily, these pee wee football players are
young and have plenty of time to master the art of busting through a banner.Read more > | | In Tiverton, Devon, England,
a family that has produced only male offspring since 1913 has welcomed its
first female arrival in a century. The all-boy run was finally broken when
Jeremy Silverton, 43, and partner Danielle Andrews, 36, welcomed a daughter
called Poppy, the Daily Mail reports. She is the first Silverton female since
her late great aunt Jessie Silverton who was born 101 years ago when King
George VI was on the throne, women had no vote and WWI was still a year away.
In Lauderdale Lakes, Florida,
a Broward sheriff’s deputy noticed a headlight was out on a silver 2005 Dodge
Stratus driven by the latest nominee for mother of the year—NOT. The deputy
watched as the 19-year-old woman traveled 15 feet into an intersection at a red
light and then backed up, disrupting traffic. When the deputy initiated a
traffic stop, the woman went through the green light and turned down another
street, driving for about a quarter-mile before pulling over. Another deputy
heard crying coming from inside the trunk, opened it and found the woman’s
five-month-old baby inside. According to the Sun Sentinel, the infant had been
sitting in a passenger’s lap, but the woman didn’t want to get ticketed for not
having a car seat, so she told the 14-year-old passenger to put the baby in the
trunk through an opening in the back seat. The woman was charged with child
abuse, resisting an officer and five traffic-related offenses, including
driving without a license and failure to have a child restraint.
In Sallanches,
France, a woman went to the tax authority’s office to make her final
payment on a bill that originally totaled $1,434, and she handed over $268—in
coins. UPI reports she was angry because she had to sell her car to pay the
taxes on time. Audrey said office workers initially seemed annoyed by her
stunt, but they were able to see the humorous side of things while counting the
coins—a task that took more than two hours.
Have a great weekend! | | 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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