The Monarch Report November 18, 2013

The Markets
If you found holiday songs or Beatles tunes humming through your head last week, it may have been your subconscious processing world and market events. Over the river and through the woods/To Grandmother's house we go Janet Yellen, current Vice hairman and nominee to be the ne!t hairman of the "ederal #eserve $ystem, testified at her confirmation hearing before the %.$. $enate&s ommittee on Banking, 'ousing, and %rban (ffairs on )hursday. 'er comments were widely interpreted as indicating that current stimulus measures will remain in place. )his made investors happy and helped push global stock markets higher. In the %nited $tates, the *ow Jones, $+, -.., and /($*(0, all appear to be headed toward milestones. )he *ow is nearing 12,..., the $+, is closing in on 1,3.., and the /($*(0 is approaching 4,.... You say you want a revolution/Well you know/We all want to change the world hina&s third plenum of the 13th entral ommittee, which also is being referred to as a blueprint for reform, a reform manifesto, and the Decision on Major Issues oncerning om!rehensively Dee!ening "e#orms, is ambiguously phrased, according to The $conomist. 'owever, it appears to encourage5 67!perimentation in everything from trading rural land to the freeing of controls on interest rates. Barriers to migration will be further broken down and the one8child policy rela!ed. ( widely resented system of e!tra89udicial detention, known as lao9iao :re8education through labor;, will be scrapped.< hina&s leaders also promised to elevate the role of markets in the economy. )hat news helped push $hanghai omposite Inde! higher last week.
Data as of 11/15/13 $tandard + ,oor=s -.. :*omestic $tocks; 1.8year )reasury /ote :Yield Bnly; Dold :per ounce; *J8%B$ ommodity Inde! *J 7Euity (ll #7I) )# Inde! 1-Week 1.2> ?.C ..1 ... 1.@ -T-D ?2.1> /( 8?4.. 811.4 -.. 1- ear @?.A> 1.2 8?4.C 81?.4 1?.A 3- ear 14.-> ?.A 8?.. 82.1 1?.. 5- ear 12.?> @.C 11.A ... ?1.A 10- ear -.2> 4.? 1?.2 8..4 A.@

/otes5 $+, -.., Dold, *J8%B$ ommodity Inde! returns e!clude reinvested dividends :gold does not pay a dividend; and the three8, five8, and 1.8year returns are annualiFedG the *J 7Euity (ll #7I) )# Inde! does include reinvested dividends and the three8, five8, and 1.8year returns are annualiFedG and the 1.8year )reasury /ote is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time periods. $ources5 YahooH "inance, Barron&s, d9inde!es.com, Iondon Bullion Jarket (ssociation. ,ast performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. /K( means not applicable.

!"#$ %& '$$N %(($R$D " )&M* +&M D,+TR,'&T,%N- /ot too many
employers offer pension plans anymore. You know, pension plans. )he kind of retirement plans that employers used to offerG the type where employees generally didn&t contribute and the

benefits they received in retirement were determined by their salaries, length of employment, and other factors. If you&ve ever worked for a company that had one, it&s possible that the offer of a lump sum distribution may be headed your way. If you accept a lump sum distribution, you&re choosing to receive a pile of cash today instead of monthly or annual pension payments in retirement. Basically, you&re agreeing to take responsibility for investing the money and generating a stream of income during retirement so your employer doesn&t have to do those things. Lhy are companies offering lump sum distributionsM )he ,ension ,rotection (ct of ?..2 :,,(; established new accounting rules. ompanies with pension plans must recogniFe their plans& funded status on their balance sheets each year. $ince balance sheets are scrutiniFed by analysts and investors, and lots of pension plans are underfunded, companies decided it was time to take action. 'ow underfunded are these plansM ( Lilshire (ssociates report cited by #euters found the difference between the amount that $+, -.. companies will owe to retired workers and the amount those companies have set aside to pay retirees is more than N1.- trillion. 'ow much is thatM Lell, if you took one trillion one8dollar bills and strung them end8to8end, the chain would stretch further than the distance from the earth to the sunH (nyway, having an underfunded plan became a corporate finance headache. )wo8thirds of companies that have pension plans are trying to limit the effect of those plans on their financial statements :2A percent; and cash flows :-3 percent;, as well as reduce the overall cost of their plans :41 percent;, according to a recent )owers Latson survey. "B #esearch in collaboration with Jercer said employers plan to do this by5 (dopting more conservative investment strategies )ransferring pension obligations to insurance companies by purchasing annuities Bffering lump8sum payouts to retired and current employees

In many cases, accepting a lump sum payout rather than having income from a pension may have a significant impact on your retirement.

Week./ (oc0s 1 Th2nk "bo0t ,t

6)he average 4.1:k; account balance fell @4.3 percent in ?..3, then rose from ?..A to ?.11. Bverall, the average account balance increased at a compound annual average growth rate of -.4 percent over the ?..C8?.11 period, to NA4,43? at year8end ?.11 )he median 4.1:k; account balance :half above, half below; increased at a compound annual average growth rate of 11.percent over the period, to N4?,.3? at year8end ?.11.< %% $m!loyee &ene#it "esearch Institute' (une )*+, O1?P Best regards, Your Jonarch )eam

,.$. ,lease feel free to forward this commentary to family, friends, or colleagues. If you would like us to add them to the list, please reply to this e8mail with their e8mail address and we will ask for their permission to be added. $ecurities offered through I,I "inancial, Jember "I/#(K$I, .
Q )his newsletter was prepared by ,eak (dvisor (lliance. ,eak (dvisor (lliance is not affiliated with the named brokerKdealer. Q )he $tandard + ,oor=s -.. :$+, -..; is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in general. You cannot invest directly in this inde!. Q )he $tandard + ,oor&s -.. :$+, -..; is an unmanaged inde!. %nmanaged inde! returns do not reflect fees, e!penses, or sales charges. Inde! performance is not indicative of the performance of any investment. Q )he 1.8year )reasury /ote represents debt owed by the %nited $tates )reasury to the public. $ince the %.$. Dovernment is seen as a risk8free borrower, investors use the 1.8year )reasury /ote as a benchmark for the long8term bond market. Q Dold represents the Iondon afternoon gold price fi! as reported by the Iondon Bullion Jarket (ssociation. Q )he *J ommodity Inde! is designed to be a highly liEuid and diversified benchmark for the commodity futures market. )he Inde! is composed of futures contracts on 1A physical commodities and was launched on July 14, 1AA3. Q )he *J 7Euity (ll #7I) )# Inde! measures the total return performance of the eEuity subcategory of the #eal 7state Investment )rust :#7I); industry as calculated by *ow Jones. Q YahooH "inance is the source for any reference to the performance of an inde! between two specific periods. Q Bpinions e!pressed are sub9ect to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future performance. Q 7conomic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful. Q$tock investing involves risk including loss of principal. Q ,ast performance does not guarantee future results. Q You cannot invest directly in an inde!. Q onsult your financial professional before making any investment decision. Q )o unsubscribe from the Jonarch #eport please reply to this e8mail with 6%nsubscribe< in the sub9ect line, or write us at lauraRmonarchadvisorygroup.com.

$ources5 http5KKwww.reuters.comKarticleK?.1@K11K1-Kus8markets8global8id%$B#7A2$..7?.1@111http5KKwww.usatoday.comKstoryKmoneyKmarketsK?.1@K11K1CKstock8market8in8milestone8heavenK@-C2C@AK http5KKwww.economist.comKnewsKchinaK?1-3A32A8communist8party8calls8wide8ranging8economic8reforms8 and8gives8itself8new8tools8implement http5KKwww.economist.comKblogsKanalectsK?.1@K11Kreform8china http5KKwww.bloomberg.comKnewsK?.1@81181-Kchina8s8stock8inde!8futures8rise8as8oil8refiners8may8 move.html http5KKwww.investopedia.comKtermsKdKdefinedbenefitpensionplan.asp http5KKww?.cfo.comKretirement8plansK?.1@K.4Kthe8great8pension8deriskingK http5KKwww.reuters.comKarticleK?.1@K.4K.CKus8corporate8pensions8wilshire8id%$B#7A@2. ?.1@.4.C http5KKwww.marketwatch.comKstoryKmore8us8companies8formaliFing8plans8to8de8risk8defined8benefit8 pension8plans8towers8watson8survey8finds8?.1@81181?MreflinkSJLTnewsTstmp http5KKwww.ehd.orgKscienceTtechnologyTlargenumbers.php http5KKpeakclassic.peakadvisoralliance.comKappKwebrootKcustomKeditorK118138 1@T "BT#esearchTandTJercer87volvingT,ensionT#iskT$trategies8JuneT?.1@.pdf http5KKwww.ebri.orgKpublicationsKibKinde!.cfmMfaSib*isp+contentTidS-?3@