Retirement Data: Boston College Center for Retirement Research IRA/401k Analysis

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College is out with a new report titled 401(K)/IRA Holdings In 2016: An Update From The Federal Reserve’s 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) by Alicia H. Munnell and Anqi Chen.

The overall report shows some encouraging trends, however it's disturbing to read the extent of the challenges younger and lower paid workers have accessing defined contribution plans and saving for retirement. The report highlights that the financial services industry working with municipal, state and federal governments need to create more options so fewer working age adults miss out on saving for retirement. Below are two graphics from the report that stood out to me. The first one shows how little the median household has saved for retirement. The second one shows the disparity between high income folks and low income folks nearing retirement. Notice the median household has $780,000 in the top quintile by income compared to $26,700 for the lowest quintile by income.

Understanding Wealth in America

Please read Nine Charts about Wealth in America published by the Urban Institute that was updated October 5, 2017. One finding to note:

"Focusing on private income, such as earnings and dividends, plus cash government benefits, we see that the income of families near the top increased roughly 90 percent from 1963 to 2016, while the income of families at the bottom increased less than 10 percent."

The authors and designers did an amazing job creating interactive graphics, which will be more engaging on a computer or larger screen.

October 2017 Market Update

The S&P 500 was up 1.93% in September. The S&P 500 went another month without a 3% or 5% correction. According to LPL Research's Weekly Commentary released on September 25, the S&P 500 has gone more than 10 months without a 3% correction, the second longest period in the history of the S&P 500. Additionally, they noted, it has been 15 months since the last 5% dip, due to the Brexit referendum in June 2016. Only three times in history was there a longer stretch without a 5% correction. Let's review price, sentiment, and valuation as we start October.