Nevin's Data "Points"

  “You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout…” Those are, of course, the opening lyrics to that holiday classic, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” And while the tune is jaunty enough, the message — that there’s some kind of elfin “eye in the sky” keeping tabs on us has always struck me as just a little bit…creepy. That said, once upon a time, as Christmas neared, it was not uncommon for my wife and I to caution our occasionally misbehaving brood that  they  had best be attentive to how their (not uncommon) misbehaviors might be viewed by the big guy at the North Pole. In support of that notion, a few years back — well, now it’s quite a few years back — when my kids still believed in the (SPOILER ALERT) reality of Santa Claus, we discovered an ingenious website [i]  that purported to offer a real-time assessment of their “naughty or nice” status. Indeed, no amount of parental threats or admonishments — in fact, nothing we ever said or did —  EV...

  There was some good news — and some disappointing news — about the take-up of a “new” plan design last week. It was the first anniversary of a coalition of recordkeepers called the  Portable Services Network  (PSN) — a consortium of firms that includes Alight, Vanguard, Fidelity Investments, Empower, TIAA and Principal — not to mention the Retirement Clearinghouse, whose  long-term patience  and commitment made the concept of auto-portability a reality. There’s even  support for auto-portability  in SECURE 2.0.      The Good News The good news: PSN reported that in its first year of operation — more than 15,000 plans representing approximately 5 million participants have signed up for auto portability. According to a press release, 549 auto portability transactions have been completed as of Dec. 1, 2024; and 7,841 auto portability transactions are “in motion” as of Dec. 1, 2024. In-motion transactions are those where the Retiremen...

  A recent article in The Wall Street Journal was titled “ Here’s What Retirement With Less Than $1 Million Looks Like in America.”  And it’s better than one might expect. The individuals in this particular  piece  were a diverse group — indeed, the only real point of commonality was they all had less than $1 million in retirement savings. In view of the ubiquitous headlines proclaiming impending retirement destitution, one might well have expected tales of doom and gloom, though that wasn’t the case here. [i]  There WERE, of course, stories of folks keeping an eye on costs, not travelling as much as they had expected, and in at least one case, deciding to stay put, rather than relocate to a warmer climate … but overall, these five — with savings ranging from $240,000 to $800,000 [ii]  — seemed to be in a good place — and half didn’t even wait till 65 to retire (though all chose their retirement time). This is NOT the narrative that garners headlines (and c...

  Thanksgiving has been called a “uniquely American” holiday — and as we approach the holiday season, it seems appropriate to take a moment to reflect upon, and acknowledge — to give thanks, if you will. While it’s the celebration following a successful harvest held by the group we now call “Pilgrims” and members of the Wampanoag tribe in 1621 that provides most of the imagery around the holiday, Thanksgiving didn’t become a national observance until much later. On Oct. 3, 1789, George Washington issued his Thanksgiving proclamation, designating for “the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving” to be held on “Thursday the 26th day of November,” 1789, marking the first national celebration of the holiday. However, subsequent presidents failed to carry forward this tradition.      Incredibly, it wasn’t marked as a national observance until 1863 — right in the middle of the Civil War, (also on Oct. 3) and at a time when, arguably, there was l...

   The primary difference between 403(b) plans and 401(k) plans is the type of employer offering the plan, but a couple of new surveys from the Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) highlight some interesting design differences as well. Believe it or not, 403(b) plans have been around longer—since 1958. 401(k)s didn’t arrive until 1978 and really were not effective until 1981 (see  Talking Points: An ‘Unintended’ Consequence ).  Like its 401(k) cousin, it was initially created under part of the Internal Revenue Code (Section 403(b)!)., and—like the 401(k)—it was designed to allow employees of certain tax-exempt organizations, such as public schools, hospitals, and religious institutions, to contribute to retirement savings on a tax-deferred basis.  Over time, many of the things that differentiated the two (notably contribution limits) have been eliminated or at least narrowed. That said, their different histories and distinct employee populations mean that nota...