PLANADVISER - May/June 2020 - 2

publisher's note //
publisher: Alison Cooke Mintzer
Alison.Mintzer@issmediasolutions.com
creative director: SooJin Chun Buzelli
SooJin.Buzelli@issmediasolutions.com
managing editor: Judy Faust Hartnett
Judy.FaustHartnett@issmediasolutions.com
managing editor, planadviser.com:
John Manganaro
John.Manganaro@issmediasolutions.com
editorial staff: Lee Barney, Rebecca Moore,
Michele Theodore, Amanda Umpierrez,
Karen Wittwer
A Time to Save
IT'S SHOCKING, from a workforce perspective, what has
happened in less than three months of the COVID-19 shutdown:
Work from home is now the norm for many Americans-with
some high-profile companies saying their
employees might be able to work remotely permanently; the
phrase " essential worker " has entered our lexicon, involving
a large swath of employees across the pay and skill spectrum.
Not to mention that over 40 million Americans have
filed for unemployment, and, as of this writing, we have seen 10 straight weeks
with millions of claims. Until this year, our country had never seen a weekly figure
of even 1 million. And millions of self-employed Americans such as freelancers,
who wouldn't normally qualify for unemployment benefits, are filing for " pandemic
unemployment assistance " to get financial aid.
These numbers are simply staggering, though the last released figure for May
shows a decline in continued claims-i.e., the number of people claiming regular
unemployment benefits for consecutive weeks. Like so much else lately, it's unclear
if that signals revitalization of the labor market or is simply a blip on the chart.
In the midst of all of this, Americans' concerns about the economy are also
apparent, reflected in their spending and saving behaviors. For example, the Bureau
of Economic Analysis reported at the end of April a 5-percentage-point increase in
the American savings rate-from 8% in February to 13.1% in March. I think it's
worth noting, this was the highest savings rate recorded since November 1981.
This figure is a double-edged sword in that, for the economy to recover, for the
unemployed to go back to work, Americans need to be spending money. However,
for all of us in this industry that prioritizes saving, planning and financial wellness,
this is also an opportunity.
Sadly, unemployment has hit one in four workers. Even if your clients aren't
laying people off, the crisis likely has affected many of their workers' households.
Issues of financial wellness are top of mind for so many-what can they afford,
what should they spend on, where do they need to cut back, for how long will their
paychecks keep coming?
For advisers, this may be the time to communicate with your plan sponsor
clients and their employees-not just participants-about financial wellness
and some of the myriad topics that includes. It seems contrarian to be thinking
about reminding people to sock money away and stay the course. But, as spending
drops-7.5% in April, noted the Bureau of Economic Analysis-Americans who are
still employed can, and likely should, save that money.
Perhaps we should be broadly discussing how to help people establish the emergency
account they always knew they needed. I'll acknowledge this ignores a great
many others who also need help-people who were laid off or furloughed, who
work at a company without a plan, but I don't have ideas for how to help them;
however, I'd love to hear ideas from anyone who does.
At a time when stores are closed and people can't be out spending, when they
may be reordering their life priorities (but that's a topic for another day), they
may be thinking about the importance of financial security in uncertain times.
The small part that you-and our industry-can play in creating and distributing
communications that can help them achieve this might well be welcome.
-Alison Cooke Mintzer, Publisher, PLANADVISER
contributors: Beth Braverman, John Keefe,
Judy Ward
surveys & research: Brian O'Keefe,
Angela Marinakis, Jackie Scott
design & production: Donna Bien-Aimé,
Alanna Jacobs, Joy Liu, Linda Liu
design contributor: Cherese Rambaldi
art contributors: Melinda Beck (cover),
Julie Benbassat, Tim Bower, Harry
Campbell, John Cuneo, Sam D'Orazio,
Robert Hunt, Victor Juhasz, Iris Lei,
Hayden Maynard, Pete Ryan, Linda Yan,
JooHee Yoon, Vikki Zhang
head of media sales: Rob Reif
Robert.Reif@issmediasolutions.com
advertising sales: Katie Bacon; Meighan
McGowan, Bill Murray, Lisa Reilly
sales operations manager: Anthony Groccia
conferences: Carol Popkins; Katie Campbell,
Rebecca Fahey, Melissa Groccia, Lucille
Velander
accounting operations: Mayrillane Bahi,
Ruth Fissaha, Ricky Kostik
technology operations: Ray Lucibello, Bhakti
Patel, Jigar Patel, Dexter Reaves
audience development: Marilyn Samuelsen
Marilyn.Samuelsen@issmediasolutions.com
sponsored content: Drew Donaldson
Drew.Donaldson@issmediasolutions.com
reprints: Michelle Judkins 203-595-3276
Michelle.Judkins@issmediasolutions.com
PLANADVISER is owned by Institutional
Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS)
president and ceo: Gary Retelny
cfo: Allen Heery
global communications/marketing: Nancy Adler
PLANADVISER (ISSN 1935-9098) is
published bimonthly (Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr,
May/Jun, Jul/Aug, Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec)
by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.
(1055 Washington Blvd., Stamford, CT
06901-2218). Standard rate postage paid at
Stamford, CT, and at additional mailing rate.
postmaster Send address changes to:
PLANADVISER, P.O. Box 88, Congers, NY
10920-9916
reproduction policy PLANADVISER, Volume
14, Issue 5. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form without the publisher's permission.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal
or personal use, or the internal or personal
use of specific clients, is granted by ISS,
provided that the appropriate fee is paid
directly to Copyright Clearance Center, 222
Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Tel: 978-750-8400. Copyright. com ©2020.
Entire contents copyrighted.
2 | planadviser.com May-June 2020
http://www.PLANADVISER.COM http://www.Copyright.com http://www.planadviser.com
PLANADVISER - May/June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANADVISER - May/June 2020
