Email Comes to Retirement Plans

Did you ever wonder why you get so much snail mail regarding your 401(k) or other retirement accounts? It's because that's the law: All plan documents and disclosures must be delivered via hard copy. But that might be changing.

A bipartisan group of four Congressmen - two Republicans and two Democrats - have introduced the Receiving Electronic Statements to Improve Retiree Earnings Act. The proposed legislation would permit sponsors to send plan documents and disclosures to employees via email. If enacted, the amendment would affect plans beginning December 31, 2015.

The lawmakers said that sponsors spend up to $60 million annually to print a single four-page notice. Presumably, if plans are able to distribute all that information vie email, some of that expense might find its way back into the pockets of retirement savers.

Skyworks the Skyrocket

There are two things that rarely happen to stocks: One, a stock that goes up a great amount in one year is not likely to maintain that growth for a second year. Two, large-cap stocks are unlikely to show huge periods of sustained growth. That's what makes the performance of the little-known Skyworks Solutions so remarkable.

A semiconductor manufacturer based in Woburn, Massachusetts, Skyworks was the best performer in the entire S&P 500 last year, rising 165 percent. Usually, what goes up must come down, but Skyworks has been the third-best performer in the S&P in 2015, up an additional 45 percent already this year.

Altogether, Skyworks is up 285 percent since the beginning of 2014. You would not want to bet on that kind of incredible success continuing, especially for a large-cap stock, but it's been a remarkable performance nonetheless.

May's Jobs Report

The May unemployment report, released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, was another strong one. The economy added 280,000 jobs last month, up from 221,000 in April. We're still down slightly in recent months, with an average of  207,000 for the past three months, compared with 251,000 in the 12 months prior to May.

The headline unemployment rate ticked up a notch to 5.5 percent, despite the strong jobs number. That's mostly a result of more people entering the workforce and seeking new jobs, which is a sign of a stronger economy.

Another sign of a strengthening economy: Average hourly earnings for private-sector workers were up 2.3 percent in May from a year earlier, to an average of $24.96. That’s the fastest growth since the summer of 2013 and up from an average of 2 percent for the entire economic recovery.

You're Nothing Without Your Health

What's the most important thing in life for wealthy people? According to the new 2015 U.S. Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth survey, it's health, followed by family and financial security. Also important were a feeling of connectedness and giving back to society.

Health and family were particularly important for older clients. Younger people - the infamous millennials - rated meaningful work as the most important element in their lives, followed by financial security, with health way down in fourth place.

One thing that most agreed on - they're not where they want to be, not yet. A full 81 percent have at least one area that needs work. The most common area that needs more attention for all age groups is health — except for millennials, who say they need to focus on financial security.

The Big Apple

PriceWaterhouseCoopers recently released a study on the largest corporations in the world, and maybe the most fascinating material was about the biggest one of them all, Apple. Some facts:

• With a market cap that is closing in on $750 billion, Apple is worth almost twice as much as the world’s second largest company, Google, with a net asset value of $375 billion.
• Apple is worth as much as the second and third largest companies in the world, Google and ExxonMobil, put together.
• Apple is worth more than the net worth of the 14 richest people on earth combined, including Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and the entire Walton family.
• And it’s getting bigger. In the past year, Apple increased in value by more than the total asset value of General Electric.

Making the Best of Your 401(k)

Here’s the good news about retirement planning: Employees are participating in their 401(k) plans at a record rate according to a survey from Aon Hewitt. Participation rates  hit 79 percent in 2014, which is the highest they’ve been since the company began tracking such data in 2002. Average plan balances are also at a record high, rising from $91,060 at the end of 2013 to $100,320.

Here’s the bad news: They’re not doing much to manage those plans. Only 24 percent of workers raised their contribution rates in 2014, and just 15 percent rebalanced the investments in their accounts. Unless you’re in target date funds, which do the rebalancing for you, changing the mix in your retirement portfolio as you age is a necessity.

Employees also aren’t taking advantage of all the investment options at their disposal. The average account was invested in just 3.6 funds last year, down from 3.7 in 2013 and 3.9 in 2012.

Welcome to the June Swoon

Today is the first day of June, which means that summer is almost upon us - but it also means that the market's dreaded June swoon is also upon us.  The S&P 500 index has declined in six of the last 10 Junes, with an  average performance of negative 1.3 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average has been even worse. It has been down in eight of the last 10 Junes, and the index has averaged a 1.6 percent decline. The Nasdaq composite is the relative outperformer, losing ground in seven of the past ten Junes but posting an average loss of just 0.9 percent.

Two sectors in the S&P 500 actually show positive average performance for the month: utilities and energy. The utilities sector averages a gain of 1.3 percent over the past ten Junes, and energy averages 0.8 percent.