April 8, 2019                                                                                      SUBSCRIBE

The Weekly Pulse Podcast for Sunday, April 7, 2019
In this episode: (1) Perceptions about auto enrollment in the government sector, (2) New Retirement Legislation: Congress passes the SECURE ACT and a minimum guaranteed retirement?, (3) A case of offering products that no-one wants? Google and Walmart working together on a shopping assistant., (4) Giving College a Try at Age 40, (5) Getting what you want from your credit card issuer and ever-growing healthcare expenses and (6) An Update (and some life lessons) on the Financial Freedom Book tour. Special guest this week: Rivka Liss-Levinson, Ph.D., Center for State and Local Government Excellence.

TOP SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS

• LinkedIns Top Companies
• Gen Z Enters the Economy
• Giving College a Try at Age 40

PERSONAL FINANCE, FINANCIAL WELLNESS, ANNUITIES & FINANCIAL LITERACY

• How to save for the future when it’s uncertain; Are Millennials ‘Financially Fragile?’
• Who Will Still Feed Them When They’re 64? ; Retirees Need Emergency Funds Too
• You Pay for Netflix and Spotify Monthly. What About Financial Planning?
• Financial advisors manage client concerns ; Why Advisors Could Lose Out on Trillions of Dollars Changing Hands
• Many retirees face conundrum: Lump sum or annuity? ; It’s A Fixed Annuity World And Distributors Are Just Living In It
• Fintech firms are battling for your savings with high yields
• Kentucky must work to improve financial literacy ; Time for the ABCs of financial literacy
• Maryland fiduciary standard proposal rejected in committee
• Wedding season is here! But how much should you spend to attend?

HEALTHCARE & WELLNESS

• 1 in 4 Americans refuse medical care because they can’t afford it       
• What’s next for association health plans after federal judge’s ruling? ; Democrats, Republicans agree on legislation targeting drug prices
• Health Benefit Employee Cost-Sharing Can Bring Unexpected Consequences
• Doctor: Why Medical Costs Keep Going Up ; Retirees Ration or Forgo Dental Care
• Health care appointee announces plan to cancel controversial rate changes for autism care providers
• Health care’s huge cybersecurity problem ; Amazon Alexa launches its first HIPAA-compliant medical skills
• Four Ways Smart Companies are Rethinking Well-being at Work — and You Should Too

TECH & SOCIAL MEDIA

• Best Decade For Fintech Is Here
• AI explained: Everything you need to know about our robot overlords
• Georgia Tech reveals data breach, 1.3 million records exposed
• Why is it so hard for us to pay attention to cybersecurity? ; The Race For Data And The Cybersecurity Challenges This Creates
• Google and Apple haven’t answered how they’ll ‘monetize’ video game services for developers ;Amazon puts a dent in Google’s ad dominance
• Australian lawmakers require internet companies to curb livestreamed violence
• Lyft Is Luring Investors, Just Not the Kind It Wants

401k, 403b, 457b, NONQUALIFIED, STATE-RUN PLANS & LITIGATION

• Coons and Klobuchar pitch retirement savings mandate plan
• Employees think they’re on track for retirement. Here’s where they’re wrong
• House Committee Passes Bill to Overhaul Retirement Plans ;What the SECURE Act means for annuities in 401k(s) ; New solutions are desperately needed to prepare millions of Americans for retirement
• Tailoring Plan Designs to Reflect Shorter Employee Tenure ; DC Plan Participants Share Incentives for Saving More
• Chevron DC participants petition Supreme Court to rule on fiduciary breach standards

PENSIONS

• New return reality of public pensions
• Illinois justices back pension for 1-day substitute teacher
• Kentucky lawmakers approve pension relief bill for ‘quasi’ agencies
• Former Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski Files Two 2020 Ballot Initiatives to Tackle Public Pension Costs ; $2 billion schools investment requires pension reforms
• State-run pension system not the answer
• House wants to study converting state employee retirement plan to ‘defined contribution’
• Colorado Outlines Pension And Annuity Subtraction Rules
• Inquiry launched into Omaha school district pension fund
• Pension woes persist as mayor pulls bill to sell water supply ; Keep the water system, fix Providence pensions
• MCA asks Fairfax to reform pensions, maintain schools, hire more police
• Detroit pension fund trustees rip raises for investment executives
• Red Bluff departments facing cuts under new budget

INTERNATIONAL

• UK minimum DC contributions rise again, providing lift for plan assets
• France wants to cap executive pensions, in dig at Airbus
• Brazil’s Pension Overhaul in Doubt After Minister’s Contentious Debut
• Less than half of UK workers aware of imminent pension hike details ; Ten million people face higher pension payments ; Million high earners in UK caught in tax trap
• Private Equity Keeps Ontario Teachers’ Strong in 2018

MARKETS

• The flat truth on the yield curve and recessions ; A Slowdown Is Inevitable. But a Recession?
• Central Bankers Are Hitting the Pause Button ; The ECB Proves Central Bankers Are Bad Capitalists
• US Payrolls Top Estimates With 196000 Rise as Wages Cool ; What the Latest Jobs Report Means for Interest Rates
• Oil Prices Rise on Economic Data ; California Refinery Breakdowns Push Gas Toward $4 a Gallon
• Factor investing gets a reboot as ebbing demand bites at ETFs
• Equity Funds Post Their Strongest Quarterly Returns Since Q4 2010
• Risk Parity Beats the Endowment Model
• Pension, sovereign funds increase presence in buyouts
• Why Foreign Investors Are Showing Interest In China’s Bond Market
• Theresa May Asks EU for Brexit Extension Until June 30

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

• Hedge Funds Just Posted Their Best Quarter Since 2009 ; Hedge Fund Beatings to Continue Until Morale Improves
• What bitcoin’s 20% price surge says about the state of cryptocurrency ; Bitcoin is a hedge against ‘new world’ of central bank policy, says fund manager
• Fannie’s decision to use real estate agents as appraisers is risky

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