scholarly journals Defined Contribution Plan Participant’s Position after the Subprime Crisis

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 91
Author(s):  
Pamela D. Morris

<em>The growing number of Defined Contribution Plans available in the U.S. has presented many in the U.S. work force with investment decisions. Decisions many of these workers have not been faced with in the past. An analysis of the Survey of Consumer Finance data over the early portion of the sample period, 1992-2010 has shown that the annual average percentage of liquid retirement plan savings allocated to equity assets increased from 43.02% to 66.42%. In 2010, after the subprime crisis, the allocation to equity declined but remained high at 50.65%, even though the market in 2001 and 2008 changed the allocation for many participants. Researchers attempt to find the reason that retirement savings plan participants have chosen to take a riskier position over the years. After controlling for factors such as age and income classifications, this study finds the educational classification to be a significant factor in explaining the percentage that participants allocate to the relatively riskier assets.</em>

Author(s):  
Francisco Gomes ◽  
Kenton Hoyem ◽  
Wei-Yin Hu ◽  
Enrichetta Ravina

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael DeArmond ◽  
Dan Goldhaber

In this article we focus on two questions: How well do teachers understand their current pension plans, and what do they think about alternative plan structures? The data come from administrative records and a 2006 survey of teachers in Washington State. The results suggest that Washington's teachers are fairly knowledgeable about their pensions, although new entrants and mid-career teachers appear to be less knowledgeable than veterans. As for teachers' preferences for plan structure, the survey suggests that when it comes to investing additional retirement savings, a plurality of teachers favor defined contribution plans that offer more portability and choice but also more risk than traditional defined benefit plans. Again, perhaps unsurprisingly, the findings suggest that, all else equal, teachers newer to the profession are more likely than veterans to favor a defined contribution structure.


2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
JASON S. SELIGMAN ◽  
JEFFREY B. WENGER

Retirement savings in defined contribution plans vary as a result of the timing and frequency of unemployment spells. We hypothesize that unemployment is coincident with negative shocks to equities prices, implying workers may systematically miss investment opportunities. First we match historic stock returns to unemployment hazards by gender, and earnings quartile. Next we test the relationship between unemployment, equity returns, and pension savings, by repeated simulation. Finally, we find that the timing of unemployment spells amplifies retirement savings losses on average for all worker-types in our analysis. Timing impacts are observed to be largest for high earnings workers and to increase with unemployment losses disproportionately.


1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith McClellan

The past decade has been a period of learning and experimentation in occupational alcoholism and employee assistance programming (EAPs). Assumptions regarding the essential ingredients for such program's sponsorship and principal targets, changed during this period. The professionalization of the U.S. work force is thought to require further modification of EAP casefinding. Future EAPs are expected to place less emphasis on supervisory confrontation than on broader types of casefinding. Early identification, prior to a decline in job performance, is anticipated. Employee involvement, attention to poly-drug addiction, family disruption, employee education, and the need for drug-free lifestyles are essential for future programs to succeed and labor law needs to be considered when employee organizations attempt to operate EAPs. EAP consortia are seen as a method of reaching the bulk of the work force. Start-up capital and uniform insurance coverage are unsolved problems for consortia.


2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT L. CLARK ◽  
SYLVESTER J. SCHIEBER

Over the past 15 to 20 years, many companies have converted their traditional defined benefit plans to cash balance or pension equity plans. In a cash balance plan, the worker's ‘account’ is based on an annual contribution rate for each year of employment, plus accumulating interest on annual contributions. A pension equity plan defines the benefit as a percentage of final average earnings for each year of service under the plan. Both types of plans specify the benefit as a lump sum payable at termination. In contrast, traditional defined benefit plans specify benefits in terms of an annuity payable at retirement. From the employees' perspective, cash balance and pension equity plans look somewhat like defined contribution plans. However, they are funded, administered, and regulated as defined benefit plans.


Author(s):  
D Samba Reddy

This article provides a brief overview of novel drugs approved by the U.S. FDA in 2016.  It also focuses on the emerging boom in the development of neurodrugs for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. These new drugs are innovative products that often help advance clinical care worldwide, and in 2016, twenty-two such drugs were approved by the FDA. The list includes the first new drug for disorders such as spinal muscular atrophy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy or hallucinations and delusions of Parkinson’s disease, among several others. Notably, nine of twenty-two (40%) were novel CNS drugs, indicating the industry shifting to neurodrugs. Neurodrugs are the top selling pharmaceuticals worldwide, especially in America and Europe. Therapeutic neurodrugs have proven their significance many times in the past few decades, and the CNS drug portfolio represents some of the most valuable agents in the current pipeline. Many neuroproducts are vital or essential medicines in the current therapeutic armamentarium, including dozens of “blockbuster drugs” (drugs with $1 billion sales potential).  These drugs include antidepressants, antimigraine medications, and anti-epilepsy medications. The rise in neurodrugs’ sales is predominantly due to increased diagnoses of CNS conditions. The boom for neuromedicines is evident from the recent rise in investment, production, and introduction of new CNS drugs.  There are many promising neurodrugs still in the pipeline, which are developed based on the validated “mechanism-based” strategy. Overall, disease-modifying neurodrugs that can prevent or cure serious diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease, are in high demand. 


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nam Dinh Pham ◽  
Alexander J. Triantis
Keyword(s):  

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