That’s Jack Webb who played Sergeant Joe Friday of the LAPD, arguably the most popular police character in television history in the 1951-1959 series Dragnet. (The 1987 movie spoof of Dragnet in which Dan Aykroyd played the Joe Friday character didn’t do the original justice). Friday’s catch phrase used in his investigations, "Just the facts, ma’am," remains indelibly etched in … Continue Reading
While cash balance litigation continues to wind its way through the courts, the long-term implications of these types of retirement plans have been generally ignored. That is until now. Richard W. Johnson and Cori E. Uccello have just authored a study, "Cash Balance Plans: What Do They Mean for Retirement Security?", published by the Urban … Continue Reading
The Iowa caucus voting results are in, and so is the American Dialect Society’s 18th annual words of the year vote (PDF), and "subprime" won by a large margin. The vote, of course, reflects the preoccupation of the press and public for the past year with a deepening mortgage crisis. The American Dialect Society (ADS) … Continue Reading
Baseball fans and particularly Cub fans will recognize this picture of Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, “Mr. Cub”. Banks became well known for his catch phrase of, “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame… Let’s play two!” In retirement plan terms, it’s the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) telling business owners that two retirement … Continue Reading
"Taxman" The producer of this video, WildCard Productions, calls it "a tribute to the greatest band’s greatest album". It is, of course, the Revolver album released in 1966, often cited as one of the greatest albums in rock music history, The song on the video, “Taxman”, was written and performed by George Harrison. Harrison performs the … Continue Reading
See full size image. It’s that time of the year again. Yes, that time when tax advisers like Joe Kristen who writes the Tax Update Blog for Roth & Co., P.C., ask self-employed business people, Is A Qualified Plan a Good Move by Year End?. So let’s assume that for personal financial and tax reasons … Continue Reading
A new and unpopular Michigan 6% service tax on business died on Saturday less than 17 hours after it had taken effect. The tax officially became law at 12:01 a..m. Saturday, but later in the day the Michigan legislature approved a bill repealing and replacing the tax which Governor Jennifer Granholm later signed that same … 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
ABC7 Eyewitness News in New York has been reporting the story of planes at New York area airports landing low on fuel. On Thursday, the station reported they were given a memo by a Continental Airlines pilot that was sent by Continental’s senior flight operations director to the airlines 4,500 pilots. According to ABC7, while … Continue Reading
It was a big media event a few weeks ago when the "first" Baby Boomer, a retired school teacher from New Jersey, born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946, applied for Social Security benefits. But working beyond the traditional age 65 will be the reality even for affluent Baby Boomers according to a … Continue Reading
That’s what Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue is calling the expected avalanche of applications from the post-World War II generation. The "first" Baby Boomer, a retired school teacher from New Jersey, born one second after midnight on January 1, 1946 ,applied for Social Security benefits Monday, signaling the start of an expected avalanche of applications … Continue Reading
The Department of Labor, the Federal agency responsible for overseeing the fiduciary aspects of ERISA, last week released an interactive website called elaws-ERISA Fiduciary Advisor. The website is designed to provide an overview of the basic fiduciary responsibilities applicable to retirement plans under the law. The intended audience is employers and third party service providers. Additional … Continue Reading
CPA firms – we’re aware – provide more than just traditional accounting and auditing services. And that includes providing investment and financial planning. So just how successful are they. In terms of money under management, pretty darn successful. You may be surprised to know that there are 11 firms that are have over $1 billion in … 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
We’ve been here before. Back when employers were freezing or terminating retiree medical care plans, affected employees were suing based on conflicts between plan documents and employee communication materials. Now, it seems that there’s been a flurry of litigation involving conflicts between plan documents and Summary Plan Descriptions. Two blogging lawyers have picked up on … Continue Reading
That’s what Evelyn Venable who voiced the Blue Fairy told Pinocchio about liars getting caught. But that was in the Disney classic. Now it’s a little more high tech. The newest method is Voice Stress Analysis (VSA), a technology with the same objective as the polygraph: to determine whether the subject being tested is lying. It’s currently being used in … Continue Reading
I’m not talking about my generation, but rather Gen X; and the nobody who doesn’t want them are financial advisers. According to a study commissioned by Edward D. Jones & Co., as reported by Investment News, advisers prefer older and wealthier clients. This despite the fact that younger workers are ahead of other generations when … Continue Reading
TANSTAAFL is an acronym for the adage "There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. It was popularized by the Nobel economist Milton Friedman, but the phrase, "free lunch", has its antecedents in American literature from about 1870 through 1920. The phrase refers to a tradition once common in saloons in many places in … Continue Reading
Divorce, unfortunately, is a fact of life, and can affect an employee’s benefits in a retirement plan. Jimmy Verner, who practices family law, illustrates why there must be a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) to divide those retirement benefits in his newly launched North Texas Divorce and Family Law Blog. But a QDRO only comes … Continue Reading
"What was the number of mortgage foreclosures in July?" As reported,by Investment News citing Realty Trac, a marketplace for foreclosure properties. Foreclosure filing in the country increased by 9% between June and July and rose precipitously by 93% compared to the same period last year.… Continue Reading
I’ve written about retirement plan data security – or lack thereof – in the past, but always in the context of employee data on laptops that had been stolen. But as I read about a recent study cited by AccountingWeb.com, Pogo’s famous words came to mind, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Are … Continue Reading
Rush Nigot on his Rush on Business Blog provides valuable information for franchisees. But how do you finance it? There are a small number of trust companies that can help facilitate that process if you use self-directed IRA assets to invest in private equity, e.g., a franchise. It’s not just publicly traded securities that IRAs can invest in. There’s … 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
