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Retirement Income
Employees who may have the greatest longevity at a particular office in terms of circuits around the sun and as part of payroll, have — and pose — concerns unlike those of younger cohorts. Two recent blog entries discuss different aspects of the retirement-related challenges attendant to older...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued its updated Pension Insurance Data Books and Tables. The tables now contain information from 2014, 2015 and 2016.Beginning with the 2015 Data Tables, the PBGC is releasing the data in groups, as they become available. Both the current and...
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Pension plans’ funded status slipped slightly in June, with mixed results for assets and slight growth in liabilities, says a recent report.Consultant firm October Three says that for the plans it studies, a diversified stock portfolio grew only slightly in June — less than 1% — and that bonds grew...
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While they’re not quite as strong as the numbers for the first quarter of the year, there should be plenty to celebrate in this year’s June 30 participant statements.For younger (age 25-34), less tenured (1-4 years) workers, the average 401(k) account balance has risen 21.7% year-to-date (that’s...
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The pilot program for OregonSaves, the state-run auto-IRA program for private-sector workers in Oregon, was launched on July 1. The program is set to roll out in phases, starting in 2018 with larger businesses and over time to smaller businesses.The pilot is for employers that expressed interest in...
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Would someone really just forget about large sums of money they had accumulated and set aside for years? As every plan administrator knows, the answer is yes. A recent blog post discusses the effects of such financial amnesia.In “The Challenges of Forgotten Retirement Benefits,” Mary Pittman notes...
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Finding more holistic, intertwined financial management solutions to help Millennials tackle their student loan debt and assist them in saving more effectively for retirement was a key takeaway at a June 21 forum sponsored by the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER).Entitled “The...
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I don’t know how it is where you live, but in the Beltway it seems that all anybody can talk about is Roth.More precisely, the talk is about “Rothification,” specifically the elimination of some — or in certain ‘worst case’ scenarios, all — of the employee pre-tax savings advantages of the 401(k)....
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While the vast majority of plan sponsor respondents to a new survey think that eliminating or reducing pre-tax contributions to retirement savings plans is a bad idea, 85% say they would either definitely or probably continue to offer those programs if current pre-tax limits were lowered.However,...
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Have you driven the Capital Beltway ringing Washington, D.C. at rush hour, or the highways around Los Angeles, Atlanta and a host of other major cities? It takes something to overcome the inertia of hurry up and wait to make real progress toward the end goal. That “something” can be mysterious when...
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Legislation that would allow graduate students to put funds from a fellowship or stipend in an IRA is before the Senate.The bill would amend the federal tax code to change the current treatment of such funds, which are taxed as income by federal and state governments but do not qualify as...
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The Carolinas share a border, half of their names, and a need to address problems with their state pension plans. But while both must act, their problems are as different as north is from south.The Tar Heel StateNorth Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell (R) is still new, having taken office just this...
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Apparently participants aren’t the only ones struggling with behavioral biases, according to a new report.The paper, authored by H. Kent Baker (American University Kogod School of Business), Greg Filbeck (Pennsylvania State University) and Victor Ricciardi (Goucher College Department of Business...
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A recent report on 401(k) services, fees and expenses looks closely at usage of mutual funds in 401(k) investments. It says that participants invest primarily in equity mutual funds, and that most such assets are held in lower-cost mutual funds with lower-than-average portfolio turnover.The...
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Pension plans largely held steady in May, with assets and liabilities growing slightly, says a recent report.The report, by the consultant firm October Three, is based on the performance of two model pension plans; one a traditional plan, the other a cash balance plan whose investments are largely...
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Many are still not taking all of the steps they need to prepare for retirement and are relying on uncertainties like receiving an inheritance in planning their retirement income funding, according to a recent survey by Natixis Global Asset Management.The nationwide survey found that 78% of...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued a final rule on interest rate assumptions affecting benefits payable in terminated single-employer plans and allocation of assets in single-employer plans. The rule is effective July 1, 2017.The rule prescribes interest assumptions under...
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The vast majority of DC plan participants continued making contributions to their plans in 2016 and most “stayed the course” with their asset allocations, according to the latest findings of the Investment Company Institute’s recordkeeper survey.Consistent with activity in prior years, the...
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If you’re of a certain age, you may remember mood rings, the once-trendy jewelry whose gem changed color depending on one’s mood. So what color is the retirement readiness mood ring? Violet (happy), gray (anxious) or amber (nervous)? Recent studies and insights give us answers as varied as the...
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‘Autos’ are proliferating on the retirement superhighway, recent studies report. Auto-enrollment, auto-escalation, auto-investment — all are growing in number of users and in their influence.Automatic EnrollmentIn “How America Saves, 2017,” a Vanguard study based on 2016 DC plan data, the firm...
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