While the passage of Health Care Reform muted the market’s momentum in late March, the Goldman Sachs hearings proved the turning point. The folks on Main Street just lost 10% of their retirement savings in less than a month. You can’t blame Wall Street for that.
Commentary
Has index investing become the soma of savers? Does it place employees – and the markets – in harm’s way? By extension, has the 401k fiduciary now assumed a greater liability?
The year started poorly for investors, financiers and capitalists. At the nadir of the markets in March of 2009, it appeared the world they had known had ended. But, then, something happened, reminding us all that yes, Annie, the sun will come up tomorrow.
Unless and until we can break the momentum of intertwined conflicts-of-interest, the greatest legacy we’ll leave our grandchildren’s children may be an outstanding bill to pay for spiraling public employee retirement benefits.
If trawling litigators seek to influence friendly juries in any case against an ERISA/401k fiduciary, the Time article offers a very good starting point…And ill-prepared fiduciaries should be shaking in their boots.
Readers Select Top Fiduciary Stories of 2009: #5 401k Plans Recover Significantly by Year-End
The market boomerang has allowed many 401k participants to recover most, though not quite all, of their losses. A recent study cites three primary factors for this recovery.