Diversions October 24, 2007

Trick or Treat

As anyone who has kids – or who lives in a neighborhood that has kids (or lives in one in which kids can enter) can attest - Halloween arrives next Wednesday.
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Halloween was originally called All Hallows’ Eve – meaning the evening before All Saints’ Day (“Hallow” being an Old English word for saint). All Saints’ Day was created by Pope Boniface IV in the 7th century, since by then there were too many saints (or not enough days) to accommodate them all. It originally was held on May 13, but was moved by Pope Gregory in 835 A.D. to November 1 – probably to distract Christians from celebrating Samhain, a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture (generally regarded as ‘The Celtic New Year) on October 31.

It was also a day on which people believed that spirits could cross over into our plane of existence. In fact, the wearing of costumes and masks started as a means to fool those spirits wandering the earth that night.
Big Business
These days Halloween is big business – the country’s second largest commercial holiday (after Christmas), with Americans spending $6.9 billion dollars annually.
According to the National Retail Federation’s 2007 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, the top costumes for kids this year will be:
  • A princess
  • Spider-Man
  • A pirate
  • A witch
  • A fairy
The survey says that a third of adults will dress up for Halloween – and apparently there are some fantasies we never outgrow. Three of the top five (and four of the top six) costumes for kids are also on the top list for adults:
  • A witch
    A pirate
  • A vampire
  • A cat
  • A princess
  • A fairy
Believe it or not, 11% of those who will celebrate Halloween this year – will dress their pet up in some kind of costume. And the favorite pet costumes are:
  • A devil
  • A pumpkin
  • A witch
  • A princess
  • An angel
  • A pirate
Fraidy “Catches?’
If you find yourself a bit nervous about the upcoming festivities, you may suffer from Samhainophobia – an abnormal and persistent fear of Halloween. This time of year may also stir up other phobias such as the fear of: cats (ailurophobia), witches (wiccaphobia), ghosts (phasmophobia), spiders (arachnophobia), the dark (nyctophobia), and cemeteries (coimetrophobia).
Compliance October 24, 2007

Ways and Means Committee to Hear Testimony on DC Plan Fees

The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee will hold an October 30 hearing to discuss the fees charged to participants enrolled in defined contribution plans.
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According to a statement from Committee Chairman Charles Rangel’s office, the hearing will cover fees charged to 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plan participants and will begin at 10 a.m.

Rangel announced his intentions to hold a hearing early this year just as Representative George Miller, (D-California) unveiled a fee disclosure proposal (See Ways & Means to Hold Hearings on 401(k) Fees). Rangel vowed in a statement to work with Miller to draft a “reasonable and balanced resolution” to fee disclosure.

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“This is an important issue for millions of American workers who are being asked to shoulder the cost of saving adequately for their retirement,” said Rangel, (D-New York) in the statement about the upcoming hearing. “If we are going to ask our workers to fully take on this level of responsibility, and the federal government is going to subsidize these efforts, we have a duty to make sure that our federal dollars are efficiently and effectively working for the benefit of our workers. We need to make sure that these subsidies are being reflected in the account balances of these workers.”

The U.S. House Education and Labor Committee heard testimony at the beginning of October on the Miller bill (See Fee Disclosure Legislation Introduced in House). The proposal evoked caution from panelists, who mostly argued that Miller’s legislation would impart too heavy a burden on plan sponsors and plan providers and plan participants would be no better off to make investment decisions (See Fee Disclosure Proposal Draws Industry Criticism at House Committee Hearing).

Miller’s proposal would:

  • require plan administrators to disclose, in clear and simple terms, all fees charged to plan participants each year;
  • help workers better understand their investment options by providing more detailed information on investment strategies, risks, and returns when they sign up for their company’s 401(k);
  • ensure that all fees and conflicts of interest are disclosed annually to employers who sponsor 401(k) plans; and
  • enhance the Department of Labor’s oversight of 401(k) plans.

To submit testimony for the upcoming Rangel hearing, visit http://waysandmeans.house.gov, and select “110th Congress” from the menu entitled, “Committee Hearings.’ Select the correct hearing, and click on the link entitled, “Click here to provide a submission for the record.” Further instruction is available here.

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