- Retirement Industry Council Convenes to Focus on Protection of Retirement Accounts
FS-ISAC AND SPARK Institute partner to focus on protecting 401(k) firms, mutual and pension funds
The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), in partnership with the SPARK Institute, today announced the creation of the Retirement Industry Council (RIC) to help promote voluntary information sharing and threat intelligence to members within the retirement industry that administer plans like 401(k), individual retirement accounts and pension funds.
read more - The State of Employee Benefits
What they value, what satisfies them; Perspective on the burden of healthcare
Over the last 20 years, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald & Associates have surveyed employees to understand what types of benefits they value; how satisfied they are with those benefits; and their perspectives on health benefits, health care, and the future of employee benefits.
read more - Most Long-Term Care Insurance Claims Begin At Home
People mistakenly associate it exclusively with skilled nursing home care
According to AALTCI, 52.1 percent of all new long-term care insurance claims in 2017 began in the home setting. “Nearly one in five claims (19.7 percent) started in an assisted living facility and only 28.2 percent commenced in a skilled nursing home."
read more - Many Retirees Are Not Spending Down Their Accumulated Assets To Fund Their Retirement Needs
Longevity breeds uncertainty, reluctance;
Catastrophic healthcare costs loom as a deeper fear
Longevity breeds uncertainty, reluctance; Catastrophic healthcare costs loom as a deeper fear New research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). New research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) finds that retirees are not spending down their accumulated assets to fund their retirement needs—even though the risk of large out-of-pocket health care costs may…
read more - Asset Decumulation or Asset Preservation?
What Guides Retirement Spending
One of the assumptions underlying many models used to measure retirement income adequacy is that retirees will spend down their accumulated assets to fund their retirement needs. While this may make sense in theory, do people actually behave like this?
read more - Don’t Fear The Robot (But Don’t Become One Either)
Employers and Employees Embrace Automation but Fear Loss of Workplace Humanity
Rather than fearing the robot, employers and employees are embracing its potential with open arms, new data from MetLife reveals. But, they are worried about losing a sense of human connection within the workplace.
read more - For Retirement, Employees Prefer Steady Paycheck over Managing Their Own Investments
Americans prefer companies over government as their partner of choice
The role a company plays in its employees’ retirement security has shifted tremendously in recent decades, as employees take on more responsibility in the planning and saving for their retirement.
read more - How Will State and Federal Actions Affect Individual Health Insurance Coverage for Middle-Income Americans
Coverage may become affordable for middle-income working-age consumers, more expensive for those who remain on the comprehensive individual market, such as older and less-healthy consumers
by Timothy S. Jost
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has accomplished much that its drafters intended. There is considerable evidence of increased access to health care and reduced medical debt. But there is growing concern about affordability of health insurance coverage for middle-income working-age consumers — those whose household income exceeds 400 percent of the federal poverty level (about…
read more - When It Comes To Retirement Plans, Size Matters
Impact of Plan Size on Workers’ Retirement Income Adequacy
Fee lawsuits and Department of Labor fee disclosure requirements have made defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors laser focused on plan fees. One apparent result has been that such fees have declined overall.
read more - Comparing Medigap Plans – 5 Tips to Find the Best Option
Filling the gaps
by Leandro Mueller
Original Medicare (Medicare Parts A and B) is helpful in paying your hospital and medical expenses up to a certain point. After that, you will have to shoulder the rest of the expenses associated with the care you need.
read more - Arthritis: Long Term Pain May Require Long Term Care
It's not just a result of getting older
May is national arthritis awareness month. For many of us, arthritis is something we associate with the elder people in our lives: parents or grandparents with stiff joints, aches and pains, or the nagging discomfort we may have written off as the effects of aging. We see these symptoms as just part of the process.
read more - Only 31 Percent of American Workers with Non-Mortgage Debt Save for Retirement Outside the Workplace
Once again, Millennials falling short
Consumer debt is at an all-time high. As of the fourth quarter of 2017, the total household consumer debt reached $13.2 trillion.1 LIMRA finds most American workers – about 7 in 10 – currently hold some type of non-mortgage debt and it is negatively affecting their confidence and ability to save for retirement.
read more - Health Perspectives: 130/80 Is the New 140/90
New guidelines mean half of Americans have high blood pressure
Heart disease is the second-largest cause of death in North Carolina. In 2016 alone, it claimed the lives of more than 18,000 North Carolinians, led to more than 103,000 hospital admissions and produced $5.2 billion in hospital charges in the state.
read more
