February 1st, 2018

Prepare DB Clients for Lower Equity Returns The levers of monetary and fiscal policy are now working against each other, as the Fed tightens monetary policy while the administration seeks to expand fiscal stimulus. DB plan sponsors face a perplexing conundrum: funded status is likely to fall or move sideways despite very strong markets and pension liabilities will be highly sensitive to movements in discount rates.  Read more > Americans on Target to Have 80% of the Income They Will Need in Retirement Americans’ retirement score has reached a high of 80, meaning that they will have 80% of the income they will need in retirement, according to a survey of 3,100 people by Fidelity Investments. This is a marked improvement from 2005, when the score was 62.  Read more > Professional Groups Professional groups such as law firms, engineering firms and medical practices have unique and potentially competing needs for their retirement plan. The highly compensated owners’ main worries are saving enough for retirement and reducing their tax liabilities, but they are also concerned about their employees. Read more > Asian Americans Could Use Financial Guidance Having peace of mind regarding one’s financial situation was the greatest indicator (29%) that one is financially secure, according to respondents to a new survey. This was followed by maintaining standard of living through retirement (20%) and being free of debt (15%). Read more > MOST READ ARTICLES 1 Eyes on the Investment Menu 2 With Prudential Acquisition, Empower Aims for Growth Up to 3x Faster Than Other Recordkeepers 3 ‘Secure Act 2.0’ Likely to Become a Reality 4 Efforts to Boost Americans’ Retirement Savings Continue at Full Speed 5 The Future of Health Care—and What It Means for Retirement Planning

Sponsored message from Ascensus The HSA Opportunity: What Advisors Should Know Click to watch this video. Read more > Aggressive Plan Design Specialist retirement plan advisers know full well what a robust plan looks like—it leverages the basic principles of behavioral finance and choice architecture to turn participants’ inertia into a tool for their own benefit. While the formula is fairly simple, some plan sponsors resist discussions about aggressive plan design, due to misconceptions. Read more > PLANADVISER Practice Benchmarking Survey As a retirement plan specialist, do you think the field is increasingly competitive? Are you concerned about fee compression or an industry race to the bottom? How do you measure profitability and success? If you struggle with any of these questions, you are far from alone. Read more > Market Mirror Wednesday, the Dow closed 72.50 points (0.28%) higher at 26,149.39, the NASDAQ was down 9.00 points (0.12%) at 7,411.48, and the S&P 500 decreased by 1.38 points (0.05%) to 2,823.81. The Russell 2000 closed 7.83 points (0.49%) lower at 1,574.98, and the Wilshire 5000 was down 17.35 points (0.06%) at 29,237.48. The price of the 10-year Treasury note was up 1/32, decreasing its yield to 2.719%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond increased 18/32, bringing its yield down to 2.943%.

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