RAP/Pension InterestRate Chart April 2020
BP EMPLOYEES, March was nothing short of a tumultuous month for both stocks and bonds. Equity markets experienced the second highest level of volatility ever recorded; only surpassed by the peak of the 2008 financial crisis. March was an erratic month for bonds. US Treasury rates fell across the board to their lowest levels ever recorded, [...]
RAP/Pension InterestRate Chart March 2020
BP EMPLOYEES, As discussed in last month’s pension email, we called for bond rates to fall substantially as the current market sell-off on Wall St. continued. That certainly ended up being the case; falling to levels our bond markets have never seen before. Since your BP Pension (RAP) is inversely tied to interest rates, falling rates [...]
RAP/Pension InterestRate Chart February 2020
BP EMPLOYEES, Let’s address the elephant in the room. By now you’ve all heard the news of the highly volatile sell-off hitting global equity markets last week with intraday swings on the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching more than 1,000 points and seeming to be the new normal lately. While nobody likes seeing this level of [...]
RAP/Pension InterestRate Chart January 2020
BP EMPLOYEES, December’s interest rates affecting those retiring before April 1st, 2020, have seen little change from last month. This is good news and in-line with our expectations for those of you looking to retire at the end of the first quarter in 2020. Stable interest rates mean pension lump sum values will remain stable as [...]
BP 401(k) Model Allocations – Q1/2020
Attention BP Employees, Capstone RIA is pleased to announce the release of our Q1 2020 model allocations for your BP ESP. With the new year, 2020 marks a special milestone for investors as we closeout another decade - and what a decade it was! If you decided to follow our model allocation’s over the past year, [...]
RAP/Pension InterestRate Chart December 2019
BP EMPLOYEES, November’s interest rates, affecting March 1st, 2020 benefit commencement dates, increased slightly and were mostly in-line with our expectations. This means pension values should have decreased slightly but, not in a significant manner. In looking back over the past 6-months, we saw a large interest rate drop occurring in July and since then interest [...]
RAP/Pension InterestRate Chart November 2019
BP EMPLOYEES, October’s interest rates, affecting February 1st 2020 benefit commencement dates, remained mostly flat. This means that your BP Pension lump sum values have also remained mostly the same. This is good news for those of you who are looking to retire early next year or for those of you who are affected by the [...]
RAP/Pension InterestRate Chart October 2019
BP EMPLOYEES, After August’s major drop in interest rates, September’s interest rates stabilized and remained at those levels so far in October; this was anticipated and consistent with our forecast from last month. If rates are able to maintain their current levels, those of you who are Heritage should be fairly happy with the impact. Those [...]
BP 401(k) Model Allocations – Q4/2019
Attention BP Employees, Capstone RIA is pleased to announce the release of our Q4 2019 model allocations for your BP ESP 401(k). If you have been following our models this year you should be pleased with the results so far. Based on current economic conditions both domestic and globally, we are reaffirming our Q3 2019 allocations [...]
RAP/Pension InterestRate Chart September 2019
BP EMPLOYEES, With the surprise announcement last month of BP exiting Alaska, now is more important than ever that you pay attention to how interest rates can affect your pension balance. August’s interest rates, affecting December 1st benefit commencement dates, dropped dramatically potentially setting up a so-called “perfect storm” for those of you who will be [...]
