Nevin's Data "Points"

  There’s something about a birthday that ends in zero that hits differently. And I have one of those this week. I’ve spent more than half my professional life thinking, writing, and talking about retirement — how people get there, how they prepare (or don’t), and what it all means when work finally loosens its grip. And yet, when you hit a milestone like this, “theory” gets very personal very fast. Truthfully, this isn’t what I thought “this” would feel like. Not dread. Not triumph. Just … different. Though lately, I’ve been thinking about it more than I expected. See, it’s not just another candle (you’d have to forewarn the local fire department). It’s a checkpoint. A round number that invites reflection whether you ask for it or not. Sure, it’s just another year. But it’s a whole other category of living. That said — and I’m happy to be able to say this — I don’t “feel” my age. [i]  Or what I thought it would be like to be this age. What I am starting to feel — though only ...

Pensions were not on my mind in 1974, certainly not on Labor Day of that year.  While I was pondering my new college textbooks (and trying to figure out how I was going to pay for $.55/gallon gasoline), President Gerald R. Ford, less than a month in that role—and, appropriately enough on Labor Day, signed into law the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974—better known to most of us as ERISA. Little did I know at the time that that law—and the structure it provided to the nation’s private pension system—would, in the years to follow, play such an integral role in my life. And yet, in a wide variety of positions, and a handful of different organizations and locations, from that first college internship in 1977 to—well, today—retirement has been my career. ERISA did not create pensions, of course; they existed in significant numbers prior to 1974. A major motivation for ERISA was the termination of the Studebaker [i] pension plan for its hourly workers in 19...

As it happens, I’ll commemorate an anniversary of my birth this weekend. It’s not a particularly significant one—it doesn’t end in a 5 or a 0, won’t trigger any new savings opportunities or impact (catch-up, RMD trigger, forbearance of withdrawal penalties, or Social Security)—but it is a birthday, and therefore a day upon which to reflect (and to wonder anew why we don’t make more fuss about our mothers, who—let’s face it—did the real work on that day). Traditionally, on my birthday weekend (and the 4 th of July holiday), I have taken a look at my current asset allocations and, when circumstances warranted, rebalanced. There’s no magic to those points in time. It’s not the ONLY time I look (and act)—but it happens to be a time when, whatever is going on in the market, I have a calendar-driven opportunity to take a breath and take a longer view. And, let’s face it, this year has been a bumpy ride in the markets. The mantra in times of volatile markets is, inevitably,...

"Unintended consequences” are generally a bad thing. But not always. The 401(k), for example. This week we celebrated the birthday of the 401(k) – because it’s the anniversary of the day on which the Revenue Act of 1978 – which included a provision that became Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Sec. 401(k) – was signed into law by then-President Jimmy Carter. That wasn’t the “point” of the legislation of course – it was about tax cuts (some things never change) – reduced individual and corporate tax rates (pulling the top rate down to 46% from 48%), increased personal exemptions and standard deductions, made some adjustments to capital gains, and – created flexible spending accounts. But it did, of course, also add Section 401(k) to the Internal Revenue Code. That said, so-called “cash or deferred arrangements” had been around for a long time – basically predicated on the notion that if you don’t actually receive compensation (frequently an annual bonus or profit-shar...