The 2024 Election: What It Means to be America
Presidential elections are expected to turn on policy—how the candidates will govern on key issues like taxes and foreign policy. Next year’s presidential election, says Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Samuels, is different—a referendum on which values define us as a country. Put another way, he said, it is a referendum on what it means to be America.
Analyst Sees GDP Slowing—But Not Sliding into a Recession
The U.S. economy is humming for the moment but may be headed for a slowdown. Economic futurist Andrew Busch predicts that the third quarter of this year will prove to have been a peak period of growth, one that will be followed by slower growth through the fourth quarter of 2024. But he counters that the economy isn’t likely to sink into a recession, at least in the near term.
The Case of the Dwindling Cash Flows
Many stable value funds are shrinking, but the principal reason, it turns out, is not because retirement plan participants are withdrawing money from them. Rather, exchanges of money into stable value funds from other asset classes have slowed.
Geopolitical Insecurities: Attack on Israel Adds to Global Tensions
Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack on Israel, and Israel’s swift response, have had tragic results for people in both Israel and the Gaza Strip. From a geopolitical perspective, the conflict could not have come at a worse time for the U.S., says retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General Robert S. Walsh, nor at a better time for Iran.
Recordkeepers Weigh In: Protecting Investors in a Rising Rate Environment
For employers, the recordkeeping that goes into managing their defined contribution retirement savings plan can sometimes be an afterthought—until something goes wrong or they want to make a significant change to their plan.
Americans Face “Financial Vortex” in Navigating Path to Retirement
Even as employers have improved their defined contribution retirement savings plans, funding one’s own retirement remains, for many workers, a challenging task.
Plan Sponsors Focus on Financial Wellness as DC Plans Continue to Evolve
When defined contribution retirement plans started to become popular in the 1980s, they were viewed primarily as a supplement to defined benefit pension plans. But over time, many employers stopped offering DB plans in favor of DC plans, making the latter the principal retirement savings vehicle for most employees.
Stable Value: More Than a Business
Members of the stable value industry, it turns out, often see their work as more than a job or even a career. They see it as an opportunity to help American workers achieve a financially secure retirement, and they see their colleagues across the industry as partners in that effort.
Retirement Income: The Big Opportunity for DC Plans?
Reversing decades of growth, defined contribution retirement savings plans experienced net outflows of money between 2019 and 2021. Now, says Shawn O’Brien, associate director, retirement, at consulting and market research firm Cerulli Associates, many defined contribution plan fiduciaries, asset managers, and insurers are looking at ways to make DC plans more attractive retirement destinations through more robust in-plan decumulation features, services, and products.