Trusted News for Credit Union Leaders
Credit Union Times
OC TOBER 10, 2018 | VOL. 29 | NO. 35 | CUTIMES.COM
Must Reads
INVESTMENTS
‘Pensionize’ 401(k)s and IRAs
In a world of defined contributions, American workers have
three challenges – inadequate
savings, leakage (or loans/early
withdrawals) tied to their retirement accounts and the need for
retirement income. Plus, just half
of all DC plans offer a way for
investors to transform balances
into periodic retirement income,
with only one in five offering
guaranteed lifetime payouts.
This situation prompted Steve
Vernon of the Stanford Center on Longevity, Wade Pfau of
The American College of Financial Services and researcher Joe
Tomlinson to explore and devise solutions to “pensionize”
retirement plans. Their work,
first published last year and then
updated this year, finds that only
one-third of workers contact financial advisors, and most lack
the necessary skills to convert
savings into retirement income
and typically have short planning horizons.
But research from the Stanford Center on Longevity (SCL)
and Society of Actuaries (SOA)
has found a “straightforward retirement strategy,” according to
the three authors. “Choosing a
specific solution that will help
workers generate retirement income requires them to make
informed tradeoffs between potentially competing goals,” they
explained, such as “
maximizing lifetime income; providing access to savings (liquidity);
planning for bequests; Y14
GROWTH STRATEGIES
Pot CU No Closer to Opening Date
PETER STROZNIAK
pstrozniak@cutimes.com
Y16
fter it became the
nation’s first state-
chartered financial
institution to exclu-
sively serve the pot industry in
2014, Fourth Corner Credit Union
attracted a lot of headlines from
the mainstream and trade press,
which excitedly anticipated its
grand opening. But the much-celebrated, Denver, Colo.-based
4CCU is still not open for business, and most recently, it suffered yet another major setback
that will keep the cannabis cooperative closed into the near future.
In late June, a federal judge
dismissed the credit union’s lawsuit against the NCUA after the
independent federal agency rejected 4CCU’s application for federal share deposit insurance. U.S.
District Court Judge Raymond P.
Moore in Denver ruled 4CCU’s
insurance application was moot
because the credit union funda-
mentally changed its business
model after filing the original in-
surance application in September
2014. Judge Moore also admonished 4CCU for attempting to
“paint gloss on an ugly situation,”
adding, “... all of its efforts miss the
mark.” His criticism seemed to be
based on the credit union’s arguments that it did not fundamentally change its business model,
contending that it will serve marijuana related businesses
Gen Z
Ready
for the
Spotlight
MARKETING
TINA OREM
torem@cutimes.com
illennials have
captivated the attention of many
industries – including credit unions – that are
interested in attracting young
members and modernizing their
brands. But with the oldest close
to turning 40 and the youngest
graduating from college or already
in the workforce, interest is beginning to shift toward what some say
is an even bigger prospect: Gen Z.
Born between 1997 and 2012
(roughly), the youngest members
of Gen Z are only about six years
old; the oldest are around 21, according to consulting firm Accenture. Many of them are still small,
but together they’re mighty: At
86 million strong, Gen Z is enormous (there are about 56 million
millennials in the workforce, according to Pew Research), and its
members may be the most digi-tally-inclined people the country
has ever seen. They’ve never really experienced a world without
smartphones, social media, video
calls, texting, GPS or streamed
entertainment.
Though many credit unions,
already weary from the pursuit
of millennials, may not have the
energy or resources to go Y17
FOCUSREPORT:
RETAIL DELIVERY
& FRONTLINE
TECHNOLOGY
Fintech continues to advance at a rapid pace, leaving
credit unions and their technology partners racing to
keep up. In this Focus Report, six experts discuss the
biggest challenges CUs face when developing frontline
technology that will meet members’ expectations. Y6
Using AI With
Care
The new technology raises ethical
concerns. Y11
Mobile
Strategy
Give members the
convenience they
crave. Y10