tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.comments2024-01-29T09:53:58.059-05:00Benefits and Compensation with John LowellJohn Lowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00264893397248519558noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-48444732612068061312024-01-29T09:53:58.059-05:002024-01-29T09:53:58.059-05:00Thankks great blogThankks great blogVivihunhttps://vivihun.tumblr.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-38267602016609650102023-05-01T02:35:01.622-04:002023-05-01T02:35:01.622-04:00The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement...The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement savings scheme for employees in Malaysia. Leaving your money in the EPF can make sense because it offers a guaranteed and stable return on investment, tax benefits, and a low-risk investment option. It also encourages long-term savings and disciplined financial planning.Pension Planhttps://www.iwp.ch/pensionsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-65043864954688840202022-06-21T08:22:47.192-04:002022-06-21T08:22:47.192-04:00I don't know who you are, but you can do that ...I don't know who you are, but you can do that as well.John Lowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00264893397248519558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-45280353361628211162022-06-16T15:56:33.225-04:002022-06-16T15:56:33.225-04:00Send this to those politicians who want to privati...Send this to those politicians who want to privatize social security. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-32398784468730151592022-03-31T08:27:05.201-04:002022-03-31T08:27:05.201-04:00El Extintor de 6 Kg es el equipo más eficaz de los...El <a href="https://www.comprarextintoresbaratos.es/extintores/extintor-6-kg-de-polvo-abc-precio-10.html" rel="nofollow">Extintor de 6 Kg</a> es el equipo más eficaz de los sistemas contra incendiosJose Luis Perezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13236853690971829475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-70695753257580829482021-11-05T21:13:38.953-04:002021-11-05T21:13:38.953-04:00Thhank you for sharingThhank you for sharingSofia Lamberthttps://www.sofialambert.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-35197268682662178802021-02-27T21:51:32.436-05:002021-02-27T21:51:32.436-05:00Your Article was an interesting read. The Security...Your Article was an interesting read. The Security Plan's annuity conversion at a fair actuarial pricing represents the proverbial "Well how so ?". Being a fellow actuary, no annuity present value prediction, even by the most skilled actuary, will always turn out to be completely accurate. How are the Security Plan's actuarial losses (or gains) to be absorbed ? Would be nice if the Federal Government was the backbone and provider for your Security Plan's lifetime annuity guarantee. That would certainly solve this problem. Shopping for the annuity in the marketplace is inherently not fair pricing (insurance company conservatism for its own profits)-- thats why employer self funded retirement plans came into being in the first place..And yes, one can only imagine that if any employer wanted to assume the actuarial risk in the Security Plan's annuity conversion, the PBGC would quickly be at the Plan's doorstep wanting its annual PBGC premium- thereby substantially increasing program costs for the adopting plan sponsor. Setting the annuity conversion's how to and fairness issues aside, your dual retirement accumulation concept towards some level of guaranteed income is straightforward and not complex. That in itself is the direction our legislative branch should take with its retirement income policy.Mike McGrathnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-34767758397168916612018-04-24T14:27:07.217-04:002018-04-24T14:27:07.217-04:00Chris, thanks for the note.
I do think that 20% t...Chris, thanks for the note.<br /><br />I do think that 20% truly believe they would like to generate lifetime income from their individual account plans; that is, they would until they find out how expensive it is to generate as much lifetime income as they want. And, then when there is the built-in additional cost of annuities (I'm not faulting the insurers as they should make money and they should be risk-averse), the lifetime income gets even smaller.John Lowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00264893397248519558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-8323753594958219592018-04-24T13:09:00.834-04:002018-04-24T13:09:00.834-04:00So John is your fundamental objection that self-re...So John is your fundamental objection that self-report is not a good predictor of actual behavior? There's certainly research to support that.<br /><br />As for the study itself, I agree. I think the path from current DC plans to lifetime income is too difficult for most to navigate.Chris Rylandshttps://www.hubinternational.com/products/employee-benefits/compliance-bulletins/#sort=%40fdate24303%20descendingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-51451019474533343172018-01-22T15:53:32.179-05:002018-01-22T15:53:32.179-05:00Would it be OK if I cross-posted this article to W...Would it be OK if I cross-posted this article to Writer Beat? There is no fee; I’m simply trying to add more content diversity for our community and I liked what you wrote. I’ll be sure to give you complete credit as the author. If "OK" please let me know via email:<br /><br />Autumn<br />AutumnCote@WriterBeat.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-80548060829923910392017-11-07T12:03:02.079-05:002017-11-07T12:03:02.079-05:00Chris, that's an interesting and, IMO, well-co...Chris, that's an interesting and, IMO, well-considered point. That is, if there is no longer an incentive to use non-discounted grants, why not just discount them?<br /><br />Thanks for reading and commenting.John Lowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00264893397248519558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-33123954252614394882017-11-07T10:14:56.138-05:002017-11-07T10:14:56.138-05:00To me, one of the more interesting aspects of the ...To me, one of the more interesting aspects of the proposed 409B is that it would apply to stock options & SARs, even if granted at fair market value (currently, those are exempt from 409A). This could revive grants of below-FMV options and would also completely remove any incentive for waiting to exercise options or SARs.Chris Rylandshttps://www.hubinternational.com/products/employee-benefits/compliance-bulletins/#sort=%40fdate24303%20descendingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-28097813078791282222017-07-10T14:47:50.126-04:002017-07-10T14:47:50.126-04:00Good article, but the two examples above aren'...Good article, but the two examples above aren't very good ones--I don't think the point is that someone without an HSA should run to the doctor for every cold or soccer injury. Some better examples would point out that people with HDHPs sometimes forego preventive care even though it is covered at 100%, or that maybe someone would put off a follow-up diagnostic test or not fill a prescription due to the deductible.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02157206810830768988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-4371267314029648092017-07-05T23:46:30.967-04:002017-07-05T23:46:30.967-04:00I can solve these issues by simply funding HSAs (U...I can solve these issues by simply funding HSAs (USAs, actually) with the first $10K of your combined income tax and 15% FICA taxes. Thusly, a person making $40K would put about $9000 into his HSA and take home nearly $35K. And the account is good for ALL medical expenses, including a gym membership, not just "qualifying". Need birth control? Viagra? Fine, pay for it, your account. Eventually, once we are transformed from a debtor nation to a saving nation, businesses can be liberated from having to pay the 7.5% contribution. Also, it's a 20% flat tax which dovetails nicely with tax reform and tax breaks for business. redstate.com/diary/john_ashman/2009/08/28/medicalretirement-savings-accounts/John Ashmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06205356715463959962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-72868422344041810422017-07-05T22:43:13.638-04:002017-07-05T22:43:13.638-04:00You are absolutely correct - a HSA-qualifying HDHP...You are absolutely correct - a HSA-qualifying HDHP will not be successful if people do not save. And, you are correct that most Americans do a crappy job of saving. You are also correct that most Americans live payday to payday - almost 2/3rds indicate they would have some or great difficulty at meeting their day to day needs if their next paycheck was DELAYED 1 week. All of that said, none of that suggests the HDHP/HSA is not a superior alternative. That is, over 50% of health care expenses are incurred by less than 5% of the population. So, for the majority of Americans, a lower premium HDHP, coupled with savings in a HSAs, would be the right answer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-22957215711946324242016-07-26T11:51:30.439-04:002016-07-26T11:51:30.439-04:00I agree with Bruce above and while I dont know eno...I agree with Bruce above and while I dont know enough about SS and all the laws surrounding it and how its calculated - on the surface this does seem to hit some bi-partisan notes and is hopefully a starting point. Not so sure I agree with the part where more weight is put on food and transportation and clothing and less on housing and medical care..agree with recreation but housing and medical care? Most seniors dont need much clothing so that sounds odd to me...Food housing and meds are probably the priorities in my estimation... but that is just a person who has been involved with several older people and how they live.laurie millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06581905604501769428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-73172193929094096922016-07-26T11:37:52.789-04:002016-07-26T11:37:52.789-04:00Th worst part of this otherwise good bill is lengt...Th worst part of this otherwise good bill is lengthening the computation period from 35 to 38 years.The burden of this change falls quite disproportionately on women. Most men have 38 years of earnings to average. Most women do not and have to throw in a bunch of zero years. That strikes me as a really unfair change. Women who leave paid employment to care for children -- most women, in other words -- just can't achieve a 38-year work history. Why penalize them?Bruce Schobelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-37364570771228396052016-06-02T07:28:06.689-04:002016-06-02T07:28:06.689-04:00Thanks, Brian.Thanks, Brian.John Lowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00264893397248519558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-90108792909746384802016-06-01T13:11:21.317-04:002016-06-01T13:11:21.317-04:00Nice post, John.Nice post, John.Brian Donohuehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05690224674235523760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-51480542595177100652016-05-31T08:17:02.553-04:002016-05-31T08:17:02.553-04:00Nice catch Dave. Edit made. Thanks for reading and...Nice catch Dave. Edit made. Thanks for reading and for the kind words.John Lowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00264893397248519558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-69728467982988958822016-05-31T08:00:35.030-04:002016-05-31T08:00:35.030-04:00Good blog post. You should change "some many...Good blog post. You should change "some many" to "so many".Dave L Flahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18315252948660274162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-42758977731613020352016-05-12T05:44:27.653-04:002016-05-12T05:44:27.653-04:00Brett, I'm sorry to hear that your father is a...Brett, I'm sorry to hear that your father is a likely victim of the funded position of this plan. Frankly, it is, I believe, the most underfunded non-governmental plan (dollar basis, not percentage) in the US. <br /><br />The IRS has (within the last 2 years, I believe) ruled that lump sum windows for participants in pay status are not permissible. In fact, the provision that Central States did apply for is only available under some pretty strict terms.<br /><br />Many of the multiemployer plans never foresaw the situation where, much akin to our Social Security system, the ratio of actives to inactives, once far more than 1 to 1, would decline to levels like 1 to 10. Especially in the multiemployer world, specifically because of the way they are funded, such plans inevitably wind up in a death spiral.John Lowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00264893397248519558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-46252185840046625232016-05-11T08:44:42.924-04:002016-05-11T08:44:42.924-04:00My father is in term vested pay status in this pla...My father is in term vested pay status in this plan and the terms he explained to me what they were going to do were pretty unfair to me. His payments were to be cut in half, literally, while others who were older or on disability status would have seen no cut whatsoever. He is happy to not lose half of his payment now and has resolved that if the fund is insolvent in 7-8 years that is ok, as he will have received the full benefit for those next 7-8 years. What I cannot understand is why did they not insert provisions here to allow for lump sum payouts for term vested participants in pay status. He would most likely have been happy to take such a payment if it would have been offered.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03724231488572031409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-53714756908584364902016-05-09T11:22:52.188-04:002016-05-09T11:22:52.188-04:00Chris, I don't have access to all the math on ...Chris, I don't have access to all the math on this one, but it appears that the plan may be in a Catch-22 situation of not being able to satisfy the various requirements AND avoid insolvency. If I had all the supporting actuarial work, I'd have a better idea.John Lowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00264893397248519558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2009324187193157520.post-56579009954366015202016-05-09T10:25:48.754-04:002016-05-09T10:25:48.754-04:00Do you think this is just a "try again later&...Do you think this is just a "try again later" response or is it fatal? Some of the actuarial objections raised by Treasury seem to suggest that there is no way Central States could ever qualify if it used the assumptions Treasury was advocating, but I'm not sure if I'm reading that correctly.Chris Rylandshttp://www.benefitsbryancave.com/noreply@blogger.com