Brightbridge Wealth Management Online Magazine

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Even though lawmakers may shy away from passing major laws in an election year, 2012 brings changes to 401(k) s and otherretirement plans.

From charge disclosure to lifetime-income options and more, your 401(k) or other workplace plan likely will look different by this time next year.

Still, experts say that there won’t be many legal or regulatory changes in 2012 considering the fact that it’s an election year. “Given the monetary situation, there is certain to be a quite long political debate over the question of entitlement reform, which includes Social Security and Medicare,” said Stephen Utkus, a principal with the Vanguard Center for Retirement Research.

Moreover, “No one really envisions major changes in 2012, given that it is an election year,” she added.

Charge Disclosure

The executive director of the Defined Contribution Institutional InvestmentAssociation, Lew Minsky said that the year 2012 should generally be about the advanced disclosure. For instance, retirement-plan sponsors will have to discloseto 401(k) participants the fees and expenses affiliated with the funds in theirretirement plan. These include new annual notices, quarterlystatements,enrollment workbooks and education about fees. “The materials are being ordered under the new regulations which are intended to make it easier forparticipants to understand their retirement-plan investment choices by giving an information about such things as past performance, benchmarks and fees in acomparative chart,” said Larry Goldbrum, general counsel at the SPARK Institute.

Intentionally, such disclosure may not change the participant’s behavior, said Michael Falcon, the managing director and head of the retirement in the U.S and Canada for J.P Morgan Asset Management as well. Finding out that a fund costs 4 basis point is interesting math, the most important way to change outcomes is to change how much you save in which is also the most important element of a retirement plan, and not the fees.

Lifetime income options and illustrations

There are those who hope, or expect, that regulators and lawmakers will make an improvement on other initiatives.

The Manager of legislative and regulatory strategy for T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services Howard Heller expects the U. S Labor Department to issue guidance in 2012 on providing lifetime income illustrations on participant benefit statements. Theillustrations would show the expected monthly benefit at retirement age given their current account balance and, perhaps; givecertain assumptions regarding future contributions and earnings of their participants.

Schaus also hopes to see the Lifetime Income Disclosure Act or LIDA, which was proposed in 2010, and become law. In addition, she also hopes the U.S Treasury Department to issue guidance on deferred annuities within the defined-contribution plans, specifically, pertaining to the required minimum distributions.

Brightbridge Wealth Management Headlines: Economic Disturbance Outlook for 2012

http://brightbridgewealthmanagement-facts.com/2012/01/brightbridge-wealth-management-headlines-economic-disturbance-outlook-for-2012/



American consumers are spending more, the housing market is improving, and employers are reducing fewer workers. But theunresolved debt crisis in Europe, the downturn in China and U.S. spending cuts present a serious challenge for policy makers as2012 starts out. U.S. unemployment is at its lowest level in more than two and a half years, and consumer confidence isincreasing. But there are dark clouds ahead as the New Year starts out. As noted by the Brightbridge Wealth Management, China, the world’s fastest growingeconomy, is slowing down, and Europe’s debt crisis shows few signs of easing.



The large number of unemployment in the United States, increasing debt and Congress’ incapacity to do anything about it weremajor stories in 2011.  But some bright areas are appearing to be the year comes to a close, According to George L. Perry, asenior fellow for economic studies at the Brookings Institution.”One was the export sector which grew really very well. Anotherarea was construction outside of home building. Business construction was picking up and construction in particular areas likecommercial. “We export much to Europe,” Perry points out. “And if Europe falls into another recession, that export growth is going to end. And which will have an effect on jobs in the U.S. and lead to the U.S. to move towards recession.”Increasing inflation and the downturn in Chinese manufacturing have already curbed demand for some commodities.  But the downturn is due in part toBeijing’s efforts to avert its economy from overheating.



World Bank President Robert Zoellick is encouraged by the ongoing reforms in China aimed towards reducing the country’sreliance on exports, but he warned U.S. lawmakers against further delays in dealing with the nation’s increasing debt, now close to$15 trillion.

According to the Brightbridge Wealth Management,”The downgrade of America from triple A didn’t have an effect on the finances today, but it may be one ofthose events in which people look back on 10 years from now and say, ‘Did they get the warning? Did they pay attention or didthey continue to do what they were doing?’”



Unless leaders are willing to make the difficult decisions needed to stabilize the global economy, Zoellick and many leadingeconomists say problems in Europe, the U.S. and China could coalesce into a ”perfect storm” in 2012 that could rival the financial crisis of 2008.

,Brightbridge Wealth Management Stock Market Prices, Asset management and Mutual Funds

http://brightbridgewealthmanagement-facts.com/



American consumers are spending more, the housing market is improving, and employers are reducing fewer workers. But theunresolved debt crisis in Europe, the downturn in China and U.S. spending cuts present a serious challenge for policy makers as2012 starts out. U.S. unemployment is at its lowest level in more than two and a half years, and consumer confidence isincreasing. But there are dark clouds ahead as the New Year starts out. As noted by the Brightbridge Wealth Management, China, the world’s fastest growingeconomy, is slowing down, and Europe’s debt crisis shows few signs of easing.



The large number of unemployment in the United States, increasing debt and Congress’ incapacity to do anything about it weremajor stories in 2011.  But some bright areas are appearing to be the year comes to a close, According to George L. Perry, asenior fellow for economic studies at the Brookings Institution.”One was the export sector which grew really very well. Anotherarea was construction outside of home building. Business construction was picking up and construction in particular areas likecommercial. “We export much to Europe,” Perry points out. “And if Europe falls into another recession, that export growth is going to end. And which will have an effect on jobs in the U.S. and lead to the U.S. to move towards recession.”Increasing inflation and the downturn in Chinese manufacturing have already curbed demand for some commodities.  But the downturn is due in part toBeijing’s efforts to avert its economy from overheating.



World Bank President Robert Zoellick is encouraged by the ongoing reforms in China aimed towards reducing the country’sreliance on exports, but he warned U.S. lawmakers against further delays in dealing with the nation’s increasing debt, now close to$15 trillion.

According to the Brightbridge Wealth Management,”The downgrade of America from triple A didn’t have an effect on the finances today, but it may be one ofthose events in which people look back on 10 years from now and say, ‘Did they get the warning? Did they pay attention or didthey continue to do what they were doing?’”



Unless leaders are willing to make the difficult decisions needed to stabilize the global economy, Zoellick and many leadingeconomists say problems in Europe, the U.S. and China could coalesce into a ”perfect storm” in 2012 that could rival the financial crisis of 2008.

Brightbridge Wealth Management Headlines: Sony’s Tablets Definitely Aren’t iPads

http://articles.brightbridge-wealthmanagement.com/2011/07/brightbridge-wealth-management-headlines-sonys-tablets-definitely-arent-ipads/

For products which still haven’t been officially announced, Sony’s upcoming Android tablets sure haven’t been publicity-shy. Sony first teased us about them back in April. And on Wednesday, it held press events in New York and San Francisco at which it showed them off and released more details, such as the fact that the smaller S1 will be available exclusively in a version for AT&T’s HSPA+ network — although not full specs, or pricing, or a shipping timeframe other than “later this year.”

I attended the West Coast edition of the sneak peek. When I see new tablets these days, I’m continuing to reflexively ask the question “Why should somebody buy this instead of an iPad?” It’s too early to come to any firm conclusions about the Sonys, but both pass the obvious-differences-from-Apple’s-tablet test.

The S1 is a 9.4″ model with a wedge shape that angles the screen for comfy typing and feels like a folded magazine. (It’s a major departure from every other current tablet — but it does remind me of the original 2007 version of Amazon’s Kindle.)

The smaller S2, meanwhile, stretches the definition of “tablet” a bit. It’s a clamshell device with two 5.5″ displays which, in unfolded mode, can operate independently or as one big screen. It’s reminiscent of Acer’s Iconia and Toshiba’s experimental Portege, but the hinge makes more sense on the S2: the screens are small enough that a folded-shut unit will fit in a pocket. (Try that with your iPad.)

On the software side, Sony is going through a fair amount of effort to make these tablets stand apart from the Android herd. They both have a feature called Quick View which is designed to load Web pages much faster than the standard Android browser. (For what it’s worth, it worked in Sony’s demo.) They’re also designed for extra-responsive scrolling, and are PlayStation-certified devices that can play some older PlayStation games, and will come with Sony’s Reader e-book store and Qriocity movie and music services. The S1 includes a universal remote feature (which leverages the built-in IR port) and Sony is working with Adobe to help developers build Adobe AIR apps that make good use of the S2′s twin screens.

The Sony models will suffer from some issues that are endemic to Android tablets, such as a selection of tablet-friendly apps that’s still skimpy. And while I’d like Adobe’s AIR to work well, its close technical kinship with Flash worries me: I’ve yet to use mobile Flash on a device where it wasn’t pretty darn terrible. But I don’t think the fact that these tablets aren’t here yet is a problem. Heck, given the generally disappointing state of the non-iPad tablet market to date, I think that tablets that haven’t shipped are in better shape to do well than those thathave arrived — at least if their makers use the extra time to make them rock-solid. Here’s hoping that the S1 and S2 end up feeling finished in a way that the original Galaxy Tab, the Xoom, the PlayBook, and the TouchPad do not.

Brightbridge Wealth Management and Financial Planning Updated News Articles

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Brightbridge Wealth Management Headlines: HP Debuts All-in-One Desktop PCs for Consumers, SMBs

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Brightbridge Wealth Management

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/HP-Debuts-AllinOne-Desktop-PCs-for-Consumers-SMBs-388122/

As HP looks to spin off its consumer PC business, it unveils a slew of all-in-one PCs aimed at consumers and businesses.

Hewlett-Packard unveiled its largest investment in the all-in-one desktop PC market to date, debuting a portfolio of products for consumers and small and midsize businesses. The space-saving Omni series PCs—comprised of the Omni 120 and the Omni 220–are expected to be available on Sept. 21 and Sept. 11 at a starting price of $399.99 and $799.99, respectively. The PCs are designed to provide ample storage, built-in speakers, high-definition (HD) display and feature HP LinkUp, which lets users link a notebook to the PC using a home network.

Featuring a free standing design, tilt-enabled display and the latest version of TouchSmart software, the 20-inch TouchSmart 320, 21.5-inch TouchSmart 420 and the 23-inch TouchSmart 520 PCs are designed for consumers looking for a multimedia and touch experience. These TouchSmart PCs also feature integrated Beats Audio and LinkUp for enhanced sound and multimedia convenience.

The optional HP Pulse Subwoofer, paired with the TouchSmart 520 or 610, complements Beats Audio and is designed to add depth to music, movies and games. The TouchSmart 320 PC is expected to be available on Oct. 2 at a starting price of $599.99. The TouchSmart 420 and 520 PCs are expected to be available on Sept. 11 at a starting price of $699.99 and $899.99, respectively.

“The popularity of the all-in-one form factor continues to grow, and HP’s contribution to this market is significant,” said Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP’s personal systems group. “We continue to expand our portfolio to remain the global leader in Windows-based, all-in-one PCs, introducing innovation that matters to business customers and consumers alike.”

Designed for small businesses with demanding workloads looking for a versatile PC, the 20-inch Pro 3420 all-in-one is equipped with integrated Web cams and premium stereo speakers for face-to-face communication with remote employees. The HP Pro 3420 PC is expected to be available in October at a starting price of $599.

In addition, HP’s recently announced 8200 Elite All-in-One Business PC, which lists for $974, completes the company’s new all-in-one portfolio, delivering MyRoom for connecting and collaborating with business colleagues and security features such as keyed cable lock support and an on board TPM 1.2 embedded security chip.

“HP knows people expect a lot from their technology–from the overall design to the user experience,” said Randall Martin, chief design strategist for HP’s personal computer global business unit. “That’s why HP continues to drive innovation for its all-in-one PCs, which combine a full-featured PC and a high-definition display into an elegant, modern design that complements the user’s environment instead of trying to define it.”

CEO Leo Apotheker shocked the tech industry when he announced Aug. 18 that the company is looking to spin out its market-leading PC portfolio within the next 18 months to enable it to focus more of its money and time on its higher-margin commercial systems, software and services businesses. HP’s Personal Systems Group in the company’s third fiscal quarter generated about $9.6 billion in revenues, a 3 percent drop, and generated profits of $567 million, a 21 percent increase.

Posts Tagged ‘relaunch Obvious’

http://world.brightbridgewealthmanagement-mag.com/?tag=relaunch-obvious

ASPEN, Co. (Reuters) – Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams plan to revive Obvious, the company they conceived years ago as a technology project incubator that eventually spawned Twitter.

Stone and Williams will continue to advise Twitter on strategic matters, but devote the lions’ share of their time to The Obvious Corporation, Stone told the Aspen Ideas Conference at the ski resort on Tuesday.

The pair, along with others such as Jack Dorsey, who now runs payments service Square, created the four-year-old website that allows users to send 140-character messages across the Internet. It has grown into a microblogging phenomenon used by celebrities and heads of state alike, hailed at times as a crucial tool in promoting the free flow of information.

Neither Stone nor Williams told conference attendees explicitly what they intended with Obvious, apart from saying that they were excited about building projects that will improve people’s lives.

“All the biggest ideas are obvious in retrospect,” said Williams. “If we get as lucky as Twitter, that would be great.”

Dick Costolo replaced Williams as Twitter’s CEO in October, a move Silicon Valley sources have said re-focused the microblogging sensation on monetization, or translating its fast-growing pool of users into revenue.

“The Twitter crew and its leadership team have grown incredibly productive. I’ve decided that the most effective use of my time is to get out of the way until I’m called upon to be of some specific use,” Stone said in a blog post. here

“Our plan is to develop new projects and work on solving big problems aligned along a simple mission statement: The Obvious Corporation develops systems that help people work together to improve the world.”

“This is a dream come true!” Stone said.

DYNAMIC DUO

In a conversation with Walter Isaacson, the Aspen Institute’s chief executive, the duo skipped from topic to topic, flummoxing audience members hoping for clues on their new venture.

They discussed the advantages of closed versus open systems online; how the Internet was changing philanthropy through services such as Kickstarter that allow crowdsourced funding; and how the Internet has affected distribution of content much more than content itself.

“There are more fundamental things than how distribution evolves to change publishing,” Williams said.

The two charmed the audience, frequently drawing laughs with their deadpan wit. Stone described himself and Williams as “hallucinogenically optimistic”, while their Obvious partner Jason Goldman, formerly vice president for product at Twitter, “is always like, ‘here are the 10 ways we can get screwed’.”

Social networking services like Twitter and Facebook are increasingly challenging established online powers like Google Inc and Yahoo for Web surfers’ time and advertisers’ dollars.

Twitter, which began courting advertisers one year ago, is still in the early stages of building a business. The company is expected to bring in about $150 million in ad revenue this year, compared with Facebook’s roughly $4 billion in ad revenue, according to research firm eMarketer.

In December, Twitter was valued at $3.7 billion in a $200 million funding round led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. An auction of Twitter shares on the secondary market in March suggested investors were valuing the company at more than $7 billion.

One audience member asked if there was a bubble in technology.

“Maybe investor excitement is outpacing the development,” Williams allowed. But he was firm about his corporate progeny.

“I’m holding my Twitter stock long-term,” he said. “If there is a correction, these things always go in cycles. So that will be fine.”

Posts Tagged ‘relaunch Obvious’

http://world.brightbridgewealthmanagement-mag.com/?tag=relaunch-obvious

ASPEN, Co. (Reuters) – Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams plan to revive Obvious, the company they conceived years ago as a technology project incubator that eventually spawned Twitter.

Stone and Williams will continue to advise Twitter on strategic matters, but devote the lions’ share of their time to The Obvious Corporation, Stone told the Aspen Ideas Conference at the ski resort on Tuesday.

The pair, along with others such as Jack Dorsey, who now runs payments service Square, created the four-year-old website that allows users to send 140-character messages across the Internet. It has grown into a microblogging phenomenon used by celebrities and heads of state alike, hailed at times as a crucial tool in promoting the free flow of information.

Neither Stone nor Williams told conference attendees explicitly what they intended with Obvious, apart from saying that they were excited about building projects that will improve people’s lives.

“All the biggest ideas are obvious in retrospect,” said Williams. “If we get as lucky as Twitter, that would be great.”

Dick Costolo replaced Williams as Twitter’s CEO in October, a move Silicon Valley sources have said re-focused the microblogging sensation on monetization, or translating its fast-growing pool of users into revenue.

“The Twitter crew and its leadership team have grown incredibly productive. I’ve decided that the most effective use of my time is to get out of the way until I’m called upon to be of some specific use,” Stone said in a blog post. here

“Our plan is to develop new projects and work on solving big problems aligned along a simple mission statement: The Obvious Corporation develops systems that help people work together to improve the world.”

“This is a dream come true!” Stone said.

DYNAMIC DUO

In a conversation with Walter Isaacson, the Aspen Institute’s chief executive, the duo skipped from topic to topic, flummoxing audience members hoping for clues on their new venture.

They discussed the advantages of closed versus open systems online; how the Internet was changing philanthropy through services such as Kickstarter that allow crowdsourced funding; and how the Internet has affected distribution of content much more than content itself.

“There are more fundamental things than how distribution evolves to change publishing,” Williams said.

The two charmed the audience, frequently drawing laughs with their deadpan wit. Stone described himself and Williams as “hallucinogenically optimistic”, while their Obvious partner Jason Goldman, formerly vice president for product at Twitter, “is always like, ‘here are the 10 ways we can get screwed’.”

Social networking services like Twitter and Facebook are increasingly challenging established online powers like Google Inc and Yahoo for Web surfers’ time and advertisers’ dollars.

Twitter, which began courting advertisers one year ago, is still in the early stages of building a business. The company is expected to bring in about $150 million in ad revenue this year, compared with Facebook’s roughly $4 billion in ad revenue, according to research firm eMarketer.

In December, Twitter was valued at $3.7 billion in a $200 million funding round led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. An auction of Twitter shares on the secondary market in March suggested investors were valuing the company at more than $7 billion.

One audience member asked if there was a bubble in technology.

“Maybe investor excitement is outpacing the development,” Williams allowed. But he was firm about his corporate progeny.

“I’m holding my Twitter stock long-term,” he said. “If there is a correction, these things always go in cycles. So that will be fine.”