That’s a picture of the oldest message in a bottle. It spent 92 years 229 days at sea according to the Guinness Book of World Records. A bottom drift bottle, numbered 423B, was released at 60º 50’N 00º 38’W on 25 April 1914 and recovered by fisherman, Mark Anderson of Bixter, Shetland, UK, at 60º … Continue Reading
With so much going on in the retirement plan arena, I nearly missed the subhead in Pensions & Investments article, Borzi strong on DC fee disclosure issue. (Free registration may be required). "Borzi", as those of us in the benefit business know, is Phyllis C. Borzi, just nominated by President Obama to be Assistant Secretary of … Continue Reading
I started writing about annuities almost two years ago when I asked the question (rhetorical, of course), Are 401(k) plans transforming into defined benefit plans? Since then, the financial industry’s race to develop and distribute retirement income products has been accelerating, and I’ll be increasing my coverage of this emerging area accordingly. And one piece of recent … Continue Reading
Every once in a while I’ll start to wander off into “Pensionspeak” when I’m talking to a client. And when I do, I’ll catch myself by remembering what one of our important business partners once told me when I started to get too technical. Or even technical at all depending on the audience. He told … Continue Reading
While most investors these days are focusing on risk in terms of the market and its effect on their account balances, Tim Burns in his blog, Fiduciary Investor, says that they should pay attention to a larger risk. It’s longevity risk, or the risk of a retiree outliving his or her assets. Mr. Burns, in … Continue Reading
I’ve written about the "annuity puzzle" before. That’s the investment industry term for the disconnect between the economic arguments of annuitizing a lump sum amount and the investor’s aversion to doing so. Most of the retirement plan industry attention recently has been focused on the "annuitization" of 401(k) plans. That is, adding annuity options to … Continue Reading
Back in the day – before the Boomers were called Boomers and before choice entererd the employee benefit lexicon– the standard retirement plan was a defined benefit pension plan. The employer was responsible for the investment of plan assets, and the employee received a monthly income at retirement. Today the standard retirement plan is a 401(k) plan starting … Continue Reading
I recently wrote about retirees moving to Tibet, a metaphor for retirees moving from the “land of accumulation” to the “land of accumulation” and the new financial culture with which they will have to master. The “tour guides”, the financial industry, will have to solve the “annuity puzzle”, the investment industry term for the disconnect between … Continue Reading
401(k) plan focus is shifting from the accumulation phase to the distribution phase. The why is obvious. The first wave of Baby Boomers are reaching age 60 who have significant concerns about running out of money. The how is being provided by 401(k) providers – insurance companies and mutual funds – who are beginning to … Continue Reading