Nevin's Data "Points"

An acquaintance of mine once remarked, “you can’t solve a savings problem with investment returns.”   Yet, participants frequently focus on the returns of their retirement savings investments. Consider that during the month of May, major stock indexes like the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were off 6 percent. But, according to an EBRI analysis, the estimated average 401(k) account balance 1 was down less than 3 percent during that same month, both due to the inflow of ongoing contributions and more diversified portfolio holdings. That determination is based on estimates from the EBRI/ICI Participant-Directed Retirement Plan Data Collection Project—the largest, most representative repository of information about individual 401(k) plan participant accounts. In fact, as of December 31, 2010, the EBRI/ICI database included statistical information on about 23.4 million 401(k) plan participants, in nearly 65,000 employer-sponsored 401(k) plans, representing $1.41...

I finally got to the dentist last week. Don’t get me wrong, I like my dentist. The folks there are more than nice, they treat you like an adult (even when you clearly haven’t flossed since your last visit), and they outline options in a way that feels like you actually have a choice (including my personal favorite, “If it’s not bothering you, do nothing”). That said, it had been a ridiculously long time since I had been there. Honestly, I knew it had been a while, but when my dentist pulled out his (detailed) record of my last visit—well, let’s just say I couldn’t believe it had been that long. In fact, I think if I had known how long it had been before I went, I might well have postponed it again, if only to spare myself the embarrassment. Fortunately, despite my extended hiatus, things were in pretty good shape. Sure, the cleaning was more painful than it might have been, but overall, things were better than I had a right to expect. After the market tumult of the pas...

I hate going to the doctor for a checkup. Or the dentist, for that matter. I don’t even like to take my car in for “scheduled maintenance.” Granted, for the most part, it’s no big deal—just a minor inconvenience of time, setting aside that gentle comment from the doctor about how I need to lose some weight, to get some more exercise. Or that somewhat incredulous tone from the dental hygienist as she says, “How long HAS it been since you flossed?” Still, I hate going and will put it off just as long as humanly possible—not because the process itself is particularly painful or arduous, but because I am always nervous that there will come a time when they will find something that requires a more significant change in my lifestyle. There is, of course, the chance that they might find something at a stage that allows for plenty of time for treatment—and I know that those regular checkups provide the best opportunity to head off something truly calamitous. I know this—rationally—but so...