Nevin's Data "Points"

A recent analysis of world pension systems gave America a passing grade, but not a good one. The latest—the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index [i] —gave the United States a C+ (though a B in adequacy!) ranking our retirement “system” well down (22 nd ) in the list of 47 retirement income systems around the world.  This particular index is comprised of three sub-indices: adequacy, sustainability and integrity, which the authors say are used to measure each of the retirement systems against some 50 “indicators.” [ii] Of course, people are entitled to establish whatever criteria they think is reasonable in such matters, but those who would accept their grading at face value would be well-advised to consider both the assumptions and weighting applied to derive those outcomes. To the sponsors’ credit, the 144-page document provides lots of opportunity to do just that. Perhaps the biggest challenge of a system like ours matched up against some of these other systems i...

It might not have made it to your calendar, but last week (October 17) was National TPA Day.  The timing is no accident—yesterday would have been for many calendar-year ERISA plans the (extended) deadline for filing the annual ERISA 5500 form. [i] Like April 15 for CPAs, that date—and timing—are of enormous consequence. And with that annual deadline in the rearview, third-party administrators everywhere can, perhaps, heave a huge sigh of relief. Maybe even throw a little “party.” The relationship between advisors and TPAs is complex , and one in which there seems to be little middle ground. For every advisor that tells you how many times their TPA partner has gotten them out of a real mess—and for every TPA that applauds the leadership demonstrated by their advisor teammate—well, there seems to be one that either dismisses the TPA’s propensity for a mistimed focus on minutiae that is the essence of being a dutiful TPA, or one that frets that an advisor’s focus on th...

Social media routinely reminds me that I’m teetering on the brink of overlooking key remembrances—days in the year to honor sons, daughters, puppies, dogs, kittens, and…well, you name it. And we have whole months set aside to acknowledge the contributions of women, black history, and Hispanic heritage—but there’s another you might have missed… As it turns out, October is National Retirement Security Month—a “national effort to raise public awareness about the importance of saving for retirement.” More specifically, to provide an opportunity for employees to reflect on their personal retirement goals and determine if they're on target to reach those goals—and for those who work with those employees to help them do so. Now, while the need isn’t new, the calendar acknowledgement is, at least relatively so. The notion was raised in 2006 by then-Sens. Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Kent Conrad (D-ND)—though at that time it was “just” a week. However, in 2020, the  National Ass...

There’s an oft-repeated line from that 1967 classic movie “Cool Hand Luke” about a “failure to communicate.” Now, most of us aren’t trying to convey the consequences of violating prison rules, but there are messages where mere words sometimes fall short of their purpose. There are literal barriers in terms of language, of course—but all too often also barriers built of different life experiences, of cultural references, and certainly of age. Indeed, we frequently use words, or employ metaphors to enhance, or at least provide some flavor to our explanations/instructions—only to have it fall on ears that may hear the words, but lack—or in some cases, confuse—the necessary context (I’m routinely forced to reference the Urban Dictionary to make sure certain words haven’t taken on an unintended meaning).    Mind ‘Set’ In that spirit, several years back I stumbled across something called t...