The due date is April 19 for the Wednesday Section (ACCT611-01), and April 20 for the Thursday Section (ACCT611-02) RESPECTIVELY.
Please feel free to google additional background information when you work on those questions.

Video #1: The 2006 documentary Link: https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-can-you-afford-retire/

Video #2: The 2013 documentary link: https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-retirement-gamble/

Video #3: John Oliver's suggestions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=154&v=gvZSpET11ZY

Questions for Video #1,

(A) What is defined contribution pension plan and what is defined benefits pension plan? What are the major differences between these two systems? Who will manage the pension plan assets and undertake ALL financial risk under a defined contribution system?

(B) What is 401(k) pension plan? What is the annual contribution limit set by the IRS for 2023? Is it a defined benefits pension plan?  

(C) Mr. Thibeau (starting from 28:54) saved and invested for 14 years. He got almost half a million in his 401(k) account when he retired at the age of 65. What's the lesson he shared with you in the video? Mr. Winson Crabb saved for 16 years, but had only $52,000 in his 401(k) account when he retired. Why his account balance was lower than he and his wife anticipated? Winson cashed out 401(k) in a lump sum, but got only $26,000 out of $52,000 after a big tax penalty. If you were his tax advisor, what kind of tax advices you will provide to him to minimize his tax burden?

(D) According to Jack at EBRI (starting from 37:00), if one middle-class American wants to retire and live comfortably with his 401(k) savings, the account balance on the date of retirement should be at least ___ times of his average pre-retirement annual salary?

(E) At 37:20, Corporate benefits consultant Mr. Brooks Hamilton advised that employee and employer must work together to contribute a certain percentage of the employee's annual pay for more than 30 years to ensure that one employee can enjoy comfortable retirement life. Please tell me what's the percentage?

(F) Please interview your current employer's HR staff to get an understanding of your benefits under your employer's 401(k) plan. Please describe this plan to me.  If one student has two or three part-time or full-time jobs, he or she is only required to describe ONE employer's 401(k) information.


(G) If you have no part-time job now and are going to start your career at a CPA firm or a corporation in the near future, please describe this future employer's 401(k) pension plan to me in details. Have you ever negotiated about 401(k) benefits with the HR recruiter when you were interviewed?

 

 

Questions for Video #2,

(A) Mutual fund companies charge all kinds of fees. Please list at least 5 fees mentioned in this video.

(B) In order to qualify as a financial advisor, are you required to get any special credentials?

(C) What is a "fiduciary"? Do broker, dealers, mutual fund managers have fiduciary duty for their investment clients?

 

Questions for Video #3,

(A) According to Susie Orman, if you follow your advisor's suggestion and put $80k money into an annuity product, who is going to benefit first? By how much?

(B) What's the lesson you learn from Jason Zweig, the Wall Street Journal journalist?

(C) Oliver gave you 5 important suggestions starting from 18:00. Please use appropriate and civilized words and teach me those lessons.

(D) Please read this news article and tell me what happened to the "fiduciary duty rule" as established by the Labor Department under the Obama presidency? (Link: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8b75ecdd-c81a-411e-9b83-4f6bad739fa8)