Most Americans flunk the Social Security quiz (Investment News)
A 10-question true/false exam administered by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company shows Americans don't know a whole lot about how social security works. According to Investment News, only 28% of Americans received a passing grade on the exam, and just one in more than 1,500 scored a perfect 10. "Perhaps the greatest Social Security deficit in this country is the lack of education around the retirement benefits of the program, which presents an opportunity and responsibility to financial professionals," noted Michael R. Fanning, MassMutual's executive vice president of its U.S. insurance group.
The deadlines for alerting the IRS about offshore accounts are approaching (Think Advisor)
Americans who are required to report their offshore assets have until June 30 to file their Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts filings. Think Advisor says this group is made up of "taxpayers with an interest in, or signature or other authority over, foreign financial accounts whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any time during 2014." Additionally, expats who need to file a FATCA-related Form 8938 must do so by the June 15 deadline. This is for U.S. citizens and resident aliens who must "report any worldwide income, including income from foreign trusts and foreign bank and securities accounts."
Pimco likely avoided a fire-sale by selling bonds to itself (Bloomberg)
Pimco sold bonds to itself in order to prevent a fire-sale brought on by Bill Gross' exit from the firm. Bloomberg reports, "The firm sold about $18 billion of Total Return's assets to other Pimco funds and accounts between October and March, helping it meet more than $100 billion of redemptions that followed Gross's surprise exit." Pimco was allowed to sell securities to itself thanks to the Investment Company Act of 1940, which states allows funds in the same family can trade with one another under certain circumstances.
Municipal bonds appear ready to bounce back (Financial Advisor)
Municipal bonds have had a rough go as of late, in part because of the debt problems of Chicago and Puerto Rico, but experts at a BlackRock roundtable discussion think things will turn around this summer. "The upside to a third down month is that the correction has created levels (higher yields and ratios) not seen in many months. We expect that this will attract both retail and non-traditional buyers back to the tax-exempt class," BlackRock noted in its latest municipal bond market update. The firm likes municipal bonds linked to state tax-backed and essential-service bonds and school districts, but says Puerto Rico and local tax-based issues are out of favor.
US household net worth hit a record high (Reuters)
US household net worth jumped by $1.6 trillion in the first quarter, hitting a record high $84.9 trillion. Approximately one-quarter of the increase was a result of the appreciation of home prices. While the report was mostly positive, the pace of household borrowing slowed to an annual rate of 2.2%, the weakest since the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Reuters.