From Deloitte; The Wall Street Journal ~ Jan 28, 2015

With aggregate U.S. private-sector defined benefit pension plan assets exceeding $3 trillion, according to Investment Company Institute’s quarterly survey of U.S. retirement plan assets, more plan sponsors are choosing to shift the liability off their balance sheets by offering voluntary lump-sum payments to pension participants or transferring defined benefit risk to an insurer through an annuity buyout—actions some call “derisking pension plans.” Gary Shaw, partner and national leader of Deloitte LLP’s Insurance Industry practice, Jason Flynn, principal and national leader of Deloitte Consulting LLP’s U.S. Rewards practice, and Brad Howard, senior manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP and leader of Deloitte’s Pension Risk Transfer practice, discuss issues to consider when contemplating derisking a pension plan, including how to plan for a future pension termination.

By Dylan Scott; Talking Points Memo ~ Jan 28, 2015

Republicans have signaled they want to force a fight over Social Security in the coming Congress and, almost immediately, Democrats have pulled out their big gun in the public debate over the program: privatization.

The House passed a rule earlier this month that blocked a transfer of tax revenues from the retirement to disability funds, the latter of which will start being unable to pay full benefits to its 11 million beneficiaries in late 2016. They were clear that they wanted to force a debate, with conservative wonks hoping they would use it to change Social Security as a whole, as Democrats have also warned they might.

By Amit Chopra; MarketWatch ~ Jan 28, 2015

2015 is going to bring along many changes to the investing landscape, and early signs are that there are two very troubling trends developing.

Allow me to start by painting you a picture. Let’s say we sat down together and I told you I would construct a portfolio for you that is expected to last throughout your retirement years, but will ignore any changing economic conditions or the market environment. It’s probably safe to say that you would think this is ridiculous and immediately leave my office, which brings me to the first troubling trend:

By Kelli Kennedy; The Associated Press ~ Jan 28, 2015

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Insurance companies, perhaps more than previously thought, may be charging the sickest patients extra for drugs under the federal health law, in an effort to discourage them from choosing certain plans, according to a study released Wednesday.

One of the cornerstones of President Obama’s signature health law forbids insurance companies from turning away people with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or cancer. Yet hundreds of patient advocacy groups say insurance companies have found a way to discriminate against these people, who are more expensive to cover because they require life-long treatments.

By Dylan Scott; Talking Points Memo ~ Jan 28, 2015

Republicans have signaled they want to force a fight over Social Security in the coming Congress and, almost immediately, Democrats have pulled out their big gun in the public debate over the program: privatization.

The House passed a rule earlier this month that blocked a transfer of tax revenues from the retirement to disability funds, the latter of which will start being unable to pay full benefits to its 11 million beneficiaries in late 2016. They were clear that they wanted to force a debate, with conservative wonks hoping they would use it to change Social Security as a whole, as Democrats have also warned they might.

By Alicia H. Munnell; MarketWatch ~ Jan 27, 2015

Two recent developments that I have found both annoying and dangerous are the deletion of replacement-rate information from the annual Social Security Trustees Report and the coordinated campaign in the press arguing that the elderly have plenty of money. Hence, I was delighted to see a chart in the most recent edition of the OECD’s Pensions at a Glance that addresses both issues.

By Blake Neff; The Daily Caller ~ Jan 27, 2015

President Barack Obama is abandoning his proposal to eliminate Section 529 – the popular tax break used by millions of Americans to save for college — following a big backlash, not only from Republicans and parents, but also from his own Democratic allies.

“Given it has become such a distraction, we’re not going to ask Congress to pass the 529 provision so that they can instead focus on delivering a larger package of education tax relief that has bipartisan support, as well as the president’s broader package of tax relief for child care and working families,” a White House official said Tuesday.

By Peter Grant & Robbie Whelan; The Wall Street Journal ~ Jan 27, 2015

Investors are pouring money into buying and developing senior housing, medical-office buildings and other health-care-related properties, a class of commercial real estate that has been outperforming almost all others since the recession.

The country’s aging population and recovering economy, as well as major changes taking place in the economics of health care, are fueling demand for more space.

Investors are gravitating to health-care real estate in part because it held up well during the downturn. Since 2007, health-care real-estate investment trusts have outperformed all other property types except for manufactured homes and self-storage facilities, according to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.