Nevin's Data "Points"

Way before we had “reality” shows where we could watch people make fools of themselves in prime time, there was “Let’s Make a Deal.” The concept was simple – get contestants to show up in odd costumes, and give them a chance to trade in something (of no value) that they brought with them for something of undetermined value that was hidden in a box, or behind a curtain. That first trade was easy – where things got more interesting was once the contestant had obtained something of value – and was then given a chance to trade it for something that might be of higher value – or not. Sometimes it worked out – and, of course – sometimes the contestant got “zonked.” IMHO, there’s something of that going on in the current debate over workplace benefits. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t think that Americans should have access to basic needs such as health care, or a secure (if not comfortable) retirement. Certainly we’re all striving to help ensure the latter, and w...

Those who had been waiting anxiously (or nervously) for that final wave of regulations from the Department of Labor will have (get?) to wait a bit longer, it appears. Just hours after the inauguration of President Barack Obama, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel issued a memorandum ordering a temporary moratorium on any regulations set to be published in the Federal Register “until it has been reviewed and approved by a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President after noon on January 20, 2009.” (see White House Executive Order Snares Fee Disclosure, Advice Regs ). That “snared” pending DoL proposed directives requiring service providers to disclose “fees, compensation, and conflicts of interest” to fiduciaries of 401(k) and other benefit plans (see “ EBSA Puts Out Provider Fee Disclosure Proposal ” ), as well as a fee disclosure regulation for participant-directed individual account plans, which Labor had published in proposed form last July (see “ EBSA F...

A couple of weeks back, I got an e-mail from Robert Powell, who writes on personal finance for MarketWatch, and he asked an interesting question: specifically, what, in my opinion, were the top five retirement priorities that the Obama Administration should focus on? Now, that’s a more complicated question than you might think at first glance. For instance, if you were to ask me what ONE thing should be dealt with, I could probably pull something hugely critical out of the air. Not that it wouldn’t be hard to come up with just one thing—but there’s a certain clarity to that process. However, once you get going, it’s harder than one might think to keep the list to five. Furthermore, there are LOTS of little things that you know would make the system better, but if you can only come up with five—and five for presidential-level involvement, no less—well, you also tend to focus on the big picture. In any event, here’s my list: (1) Focus on expanding coverage with the ACTIVE involvement...