Card №15
Task 1. Give the main idea of the text.
For investors nearing retirement or already retired who need the certainty of cash but want to squeeze out a bit more yield, a certain investment in your 401(k) plan may fit the bill.
It’s called a stable value fund (or something similar) and typically is available only through defined contribution plans such as a 401(k). In simple terms, these low-risk funds aim to protect your principal and give you a bit more in earnings than you’d get in a money market fund.
However, they also don’t provide much growth, so they come with inflation risk — which means the value of your money could lose purchasing power. That makes these funds largely impractical for young savers whose retirement is decades away.
And because the fund is in your 401(k), you’d generally need to be at least age 59½ — when penalty-free withdrawals from retirement accounts can begin — to use the fund as a cash alternative.
Roughly $908 billion is invested in these funds, according to the Stable Value Investment Association. Older investors are more likely to use them as they head toward retirement: Among 401(k) participants in their 60s, about 9.1% of assets are invested in stable value funds, research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute shows.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/24/html
Task 2. Describe the following graph.
Task 3. Speak on the topic: Bonds and Bond Market.
Card №16
Task 1. Give the main idea of the text.
Inflation is running at 8.3% year over year, according to the most recent measurement from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Although that’s down slightly from the March peak of 8.5%, it is still the fastest annual pace in about four decades and far above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%.
However, there are a few things to know beyond these funds’ inflation risk. For starters, the cost varies widely among them.
“The problem is when someone dumps all of their money in one, because they won’t beat inflation.” Additionally, if you are using a stable value fund instead of a money market fund in your 401(k), be sure you understand whether the provider places limits on liquidity. For example, some funds may restrict your ability to transfer your holding to another investment in your 401(k) plan.
Also, while these funds guarantee to preserve your investment, that assurance would go out the window if, say, the insurance company were to default or the 401(k) sponsor (i.e., your company) were to go bankrupt, Arnott said. However, in terms of preserving principal, these funds have lived up to their promise, she said. “This isn’t an area where we’ve seen a lot of losses,” Arnott said.
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