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| Subject: pension plans A retirement plan is an arrangement to provide people with an income during retirement when they are no longer earning a steady income from employment. Often retirement plans require both the employer and employee to contribute money to a fund during their employment in order to receive defined benefits upon retirement. Funding can be provided in other ways, such as from labor unions, government agencies, or self-funded schemes. Pension plans are therefore a form of “deferred compensation”. (Wikipedia Feb 2010) US Equity Market By John Schroy, on March 6th, 2006 |  Leave a comment  On January 28, 2006, an Associated Press dispatch proclaimed: “Corporate Earnings Good Despite Headlines”, stating that “corporate profits remain very healthy overall, and the majority of corporations are beating expectations.” Are these assertions true and does this mean that the outlook is rosy for the average investor in US equities? This article argues that the answer depends on who you are. March 6th, 2006 | Print Article |  Email Article |  Topics: Asset-lite Movement, cash flows, Corporate Governance, depreciation, dividends, earnings-per-share, executive stock options, Legg Mason, pension plans, price earnings ratios, profits, Stock Buybacks, US SEC, US taxation | Category: Security Analysis | Leave a comment |  Short urlReal Estate 1995-2004 By John Schroy, on February 28th, 2006 | Leave a comment  Over the decade 1995 – 2004, the market value of US residential real estate increased, on average, about 10% a year. The imputed value of land as a percentage of total residential property values, rose from 25% to 38%. The older the city, the greater the burden unionized public servants will be on local property values. State and Local Government liabilities with pension funds (Q3 2005) totaled US$2.7 trillion, and this is probably understated. Whereas citizens cannot escape federal taxes, they can run from state and local taxes by moving to lower-tax areas — ‘voting with their feet’, as it were. February 28th, 2006 | Print Article | Email Article | Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, Democratic Party, land, pension plans, Real Estate, trade unions, US taxation | Category: Real Estate | Leave a comment | Short url'Defined Benefit' Pension Plans By John Schroy, on February 26th, 2006 | Leave a comment  The sponsors of ‘defined benefits’ pension plans controlled, as of December 2004, about US $2.5 trillion in equities. Common stocks, even after the crash of 2000-2001, were substantially over-valued. In order for stock prices to reflect values that were customary before the advent of stock buybacks, prices would have to drop between 20% (earnings basis) and 50% (dividend yield basis). In the case of ‘defined benefits’ pension plans, this would represent a loss of between US$500 billion and US$1.2 trillion in market value of pension portfolios. February 26th, 2006 | Print Article | Email Article | Topics: Baby Boomers, capital flow analysis, defined benefit pensions, dividends, FASB, FASB Rule 132R, FASB Rule 151, mark-to-market, pension fund, pension plans, SEC Rule 10b-18, Total Returns, US SEC | Category: Stock Buybacks, featured | Leave a comment | Short urlFeatured articles on inside pages
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