| | Actuaries Expect Cash Balance Plans to Surge | | Actuaries expect the number of cash balance
plans they administer to increase by 2,100 this year, a 37% increase from the
5,600 plans they currently administer, according to the ASPPA College of
Pension Actuaries. Fifty-five percent have dealt with a plan termination
and cash balance restart in the past five years, 11% have dealt with 10 to 20
of these occurrences, and 3% have dealt with more than 20.Read more > | | A Schwab Retirement Plan Services survey found
that people consider retirement savings more important than their
health. Sixty-eight percent of workers agree making the best 401(k)
investment choices is a key priority, trumping the 59% who cite staying in
shape, but how many would rather have their 401(k) balance grow by 15% this
year than lose 15 pounds?Read more > | | Employees Need Help with Social Security Planning | | David Giertz, president of distribution and
sales at Nationwide, says the firm’s second annual survey of individuals
nearing retirement and those who are retired unearthed numerous misconceptions
about Social Security. “People believe they’re going to die much sooner than
they do,” he says. What else do they get wrong?Read more > | | | Market Mirror | An afternoon surge Wednesday gave the stock market its best day in nearly
four years, as stocks rebounded from a six-day slump, the Associated Press reports. The Dow gained
619.07 points (3.95%) to finish at 16,285.51, the NASDAQ closed 191.05 points (4.24%)
higher at 4,697.54, and the S&P 500 was up 72.90 points (3.90%) at 1,940.51.
The Russell 2000 rose 28.09 points (2.54%) to 1,132.19, and the Wilshire 5000 rocketed
705.86 points (3.58%) higher to 20,427.87.
On the NYSE,
3.2 billion shares changed hands, with a nearly 4 to 1 lead for advancing
issues, and on the NASDAQ, 2.8 billion shares traded, with a more than 3 to 1
ratio of advancers to decliners.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note fell 30/32,
bringing its yield up to 2.177%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond dropped
2 21/32, increasing its yield to 2.934%.
| | | Compliance | | Whistleblowers Remedied Following ERISA Challenge | | Three whistleblowers will receive $630,000 in
lost wages and damages following accusations of impropriety at a Southern
California fund company. According to the Department of Labor (DOL), as
director of the Cement Masons Southern California Trust Funds’ audit and
collections department, Cheryle Robbins spoke up when she believed a trustee
was breaking federal law protecting the firm’s retirement and benefit plans.Read more > | | | Investing | | Industry Looks to Ease Investor Jitters | | There is an illuminating term being tossed
around the financial trade media right now, apparently coined by Warren
Buffett, which summarizes well the temperamental nature of investment markets:
The Broken Clock Syndrome. What does it mean for your investment lineup?Read more > | | | Small Talk | | ON THIS DATE: In
1858, the first cabled news dispatch
was sent and was published by “The New York Sun” newspaper. The story
was about the peace demands of England and France being met by China. In 1859, the first oil well was
successfully drilled in the U.S. by Colonel Edwin L. Drake near
Titusville, Pennsylvania. In 1921,
the owner of Acme Packing Company bought a pro football team for Green Bay,
Wisconsin. J.E. Clair paid tribute to those who worked in his plant by naming
the team the Green Bay Packers. In 1938,
Robert Frost, in a fit of jealousy, set fire to some papers to disrupt a poetry
recital by another poet, Archibald MacLeish. In 1962, Mariner 2 was
launched by the United States. In December of the same year the spacecraft
flew past Venus. It was the first space probe to reach the vicinity of another
planet. In 1985, the Space
Shuttle Discovery left for
a seven-day mission in which three satellites were launched and another was
repaired and redeployed. In 1989,
the first U.S. commercial satellite rocket was launched. A British
communications satellite was onboard. | | SURVEY SAYS: In
just a matter of days in the last week, some major stock indices fell to their
worst level in four years. This week, I’d like to know, how panicked did you
feel during the dramatic slump, and did you communicate with retirement plan participants
to try to calm their fears? You may respond to this week’s survey by 6 p.m.
Pacific time today.Read more > | | 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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