The food industry and consumption patterns are going through a sea change with increased awareness leading to consumers wanting organic products more and genetically modified ones lesser and lesser. With that in mind 31-year-old Rishabh Chokhani, whose family was in the pharmaceutical manufacturing business, decided to set up his startup, Naturevibe Botanicals, in 2017.

Founder of Naturevibe Botanicals, Rishabh.

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A once obese Rishabh developed a passion for healthy living and became fit. He wanted to motivate others too to adopt a healthier lifestyle by starting a venture in the organic food industry. He worked in his family's pharma business.

The Mumbai-based startup sells organic health products like superfoods (wheatgrass and chia seeds), Ayurveda capsules, essential oils, spices and grains, and culinary items like saffron and coconut flour.

According to Agademy, India has 650,000 farmers in organic farming. Rishabh says that India also has the biggest wild harvest area for organic producers globally with more than 80,0000 organic farmers.

Moreover, India ranks ninth in organic cultivation. Indian organic food market is anticipated to grow over 25 percent a total 0.4 percent of the agricultural land is designated for organic farming in the country, which provides extensive scope for expansion.

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Naturevibe Botanicals sells 98 percent of its products online and is a B2C brand.

The startup procures organically produced ingredients from 1,800, a doubling of the corresponding figure from 2018. After this, they start the production process of their products. We also shelf our products in some retail stores in the US, says Rishabh.

Naturevibe raised $4 million from EuroAsia Organics and the total money invested in the startup is around $5million. Rishabh notes that it has gone from $3 million in 2018 to closing this year at $24 million. The 80-member team sells only online on its own website and on Amazon.

Initial investments were used to procure raw materials and machinery for the startups manufacturing facility near Mumbai. These funds were also utilised towards marketing.

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Naturevibe Botanicals offers organic food and health products that are free from toxic pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, GMO-free, and carry all the necessary certifications. The startup competes with 24Mantra Organic and Organic Tattwa.

Rishabh notes that once the coronavirus threat passes, the startup is looking to expanding its business globally and wants to start product exports to Europe and Australia.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)

How has the coronavirus outbreak disrupted your life? And how are you dealing with it? Write to us or send us a video with subject line 'Coronavirus Disruption' to editorial@yourstory.com

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This organic health foods startup went from just $3M revenue in 2018 to $24M in 2020 - YourStory

The food antioxidants market is likely to expand considerably in the coming years due to increasing consumption of packed foods. According to a report by Fortune Business Insights, titled Food Antioxidants Market Size, Share and Global Trend by Type (Natural Antioxidants, Synthetic Antioxidants), By Form (Dry, Liquid), By Application (Bakery & Confectionery, Fats & Oils, Beverages, Snacks & Dairy, Processed Meat, Others) and Geography Forecast till 2026, the market will grow at a healthy rate due to increasing product launches around the world.

A few of the prominent companies that are operating in the global food antioxidants market are

Food antioxidants play a major part in food preservation with the process of anti-oxidization. The use of anti-oxidants to preserve foods and prevent their interaction with air, thereby reducing chances of decay, has led to a rising uptake for the products across the world. Anti-oxidants are mostly synthetic food additives that aid processing and storage and ensure their fresh nature for a prolonged time. Additionally, the ability of antioxidants to retain the taste and colour of the foods has led to an increase in the uptake for these products in numerous products in the food and beverage industry.

Anti-oxidants prevent nutrient content such as vitamins and minerals from being eliminated. The aforementioned factors have constituted enormous growth in the global food antioxidants market in recent years. The use of antioxidants helps prevent exposure to air, thereby leading to prolonged shelf life and the packed foods find major applications in the food antioxidants industry.

Increasing Product Launches and Growing Usage Approvals Play a Major Role in Market Growth

As several health benefits of food antioxidants have been unfolded in recent years, the food antioxidants market companies are engaged in introducing stand out products. The increasing health awareness among people from across the world has contributed to the demand for food antioxidants in recent years. The growing demand for antioxidants has encouraged regulatory authorities to approve more products, which in turn will enable companies to generate substantial food antioxidants market revenue in the coming years.

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Furthermore, the demand for organic and non-synthetic antioxidants has led to several product innovations. In 2019, DuPont announced the launch of a new antioxidant derived from naturally sourced substances. The Guardian Toco 30P was loaded with exceptional benefits such as eliminating the need for labor-intensive clean-up, homogenous distribution, and handling. Fortune Business Insights predicts that that DuPonts attest products will witness rapid growth, owing to the companys strong market brand and an already established product portfolio. DuPonts domestic success will have a positive impact on the global food antioxidants market. The report encompasses product launches, similar to DuPonts latest offering and signifies the importance of these products on the global market.

Major Segments includes:

By Type

By Form

By Application

By Geography

Asia Pacific to Hold Major Food Antioxidants Market Share

Several product innovations in the food and beverage industry in emerging countries such as China, India, Japan, and Australia have created opportunities for growth of the food antioxidants market in the Asia Pacific. Furthermore, increasing health consciousness among the people in countries such as China and India will enable growth of the domestic markets, subsequently aiding the growth of antioxidants market in Asia Pacific. Fortune Business Insights predicts that Asia Pacific will grow at a significant rate during the forecast period.

Fortune Business Insights profiles some of the leading food antioxidants market companies and states the impact of these companies on the global market

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Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data.

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Food Antioxidants Market Is Bound To Make An Impact In Your Business ! - FMCG Market News

The letter, obtained by The Forum, outlines the steps being taken at Riverview Place at 5300 12th St. S., Fargo, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The illness, caused by a highly contagious novel coronavirus, is sweeping the globe and has no vaccine or proven treatment.

Riverview Place is owned by Catholic Health Initiatives, which has retirement communities in seven states, including North Dakota. Its letter states, in part:

To ensure the health of our residents and employees, the state health department has recommended each of our residents, staff and contractors be tested for COVID-19 and that test results would be returned within approximately 24 hours.

Its not clear when the testing will take place, or if it already has. The letter, dated March 30, stated that tests would happen this afternoon, although a family member of a resident there told The Forum their loved one had not yet been tested.

Catholic Health Initiatives had not responded to a request for comment as of 7:30 p.m. Monday.

In addition, the letter stated that because of the positive test result from last week, Riverview would be placed under quarantine for the next 14 days, and residents should continue sheltering in their apartments.

The first person who died in North Dakota from COVID-19 was a resident of Riverview Place, along with his wife.

Roger Lehne, 93, a Navy veteran and educator, declined to be put on a ventilator, possibly to save it for another patient, his niece said Saturday, March 28.

Lehne died Thursday at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Fargo. His 84-year-old wife, Teresa, has also been diagnosed with COVID-19 and has been hospitalized at Sanford Health.

The letter to Riverview Place families said that, based on guidance from local and state health departments, previous recommendations already implemented will continue, including:

Additional actions being taken include having residents schedule times to do their laundry so facilities can be sanitized between usage.

The letter also asked residents to avoid using their mailboxes, and mail will be delivered to residents directly.

Theyre also asked to place their garbage outside their doors for employees to pick up, the letter said.

As a public service, weve opened this article to everyone regardless of subscription status. If this coverage is important to you, please consider supporting local journalism by clicking on the subscribe button in the upper right hand corner of the homepage.

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All residents, staff of Fargo retirement community to be tested for COVID-19 following death of resident - INFORUM

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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act rolled through Congress and was signed by President Trump this week. While most of the law is devoted to providing economic stimulus for businesses, a few provisions change some of the rules for retirement plans.

Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are suspended for 2020. All RMDs are suspended, including those for inherited IRAs as well as traditional IRAs of those over age 70. Think carefully about whether to take advantage of this suspension. If the effects of the pandemic dropped you into a lower tax bracket, it might make sense to take the RMD (and perhaps a bit more) out of the IRA this year while youre in a lower tax bracket.

If you already took the 2020 RMD, you will have to include it in gross income and pay taxes on it. But you might have some options. You have up to 60 days to return a distribution to an IRA or deposit it in another qualified retirement account without owing taxes on it. You also might convert the amount into a Roth IRA.

Since the tax return filing deadline for 2019 income tax returns was extended to July 15, the deadline for making a 2019 contribution to an IRA also is extended to July 15, 2020.

The 10% penalty for taking early distributions from qualified retirement plans, including IRAs and 401(k)s, is waived. The waiver applies to distributions taken between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020. Up to $100,000 of distributions can avoid the penalty.

Other rules related to retirement plan distributions are suspended or modified in the CARES Act. The mandatory 20% income tax withholding for rollover distributions is suspended during this period. In addition, income taxes on a coronavirus-related distribution can be paid over a three-year period. The individual also has up to three years to recontribute the amount to a plan or IRA. An in-service distribution from a qualified retirement plan also is permitted if it is coronavirus-related.

Retirement plan loan rules also are modified. The maximum loan amount is increased for loans that are made between the date of enactment of the CARES Act (March 27) and December 31, 2020. Normally the loan maximum is $50,000 or 50% of the vested account balance. During this period the maximum loan is doubled to the lower of $100,000 or 100% of the vested account balance. The due date for repayment of the loan is delayed one year.

To qualify for these IRA and retirement plan changes, a loan or distribution must be coronavirus-related. That means the individual, the individuals spouse or a dependent must have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Or the individual must experience adverse financial consequences as a result of being quarantined, furloughed, laid off or having work hours reduced due to COVID-19. Also eligible are individuals who were unable to work due to lack of child care as a result of COVID-19. An individual whose business was closed or had reduced operating hours as a result of COVID-19 also is eligible. A retirement plan administrator can rely on an individuals certification that he or she meets the requirements.

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IRA And Retirement Plan Changes In The CARES Act - Forbes

The coronavirus pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of our society, fundamentally changing the way we currently live. It's also wreaked havoc on the economy, and there's a good chance you've watched your retirement investments take a nosedive in recent weeks.

For those who are still many years away from retirement, this shouldn't worry you too much. The stock market will always experience ups and downs, so although your retirement savings may be in rough shape now, they should bounce back on their own as long as you continue investing consistently.

However, if you're just a year or two away from retirement, you may need to adjust your plans. If your current savings aren't nearly as strong as you'd hoped they'd be by this point, you might have to delay retirement.

Image source: Getty Images.

Determining whether to postpone retirement can be a tough decision, but it comes down to how close you are to your desired retirement age and how much you have in savings.

If you planned to retire this year and your investments have taken a significant hit, you might have no choice but to delay retirement if you can't afford to live on the savings you have. But if you have quite a few years left before you plan to retire, you might be able to supercharge your savings during that time to get back on track and retire on schedule.

It can be challenging to plan for your senior years during a market downturn because nobody knows exactly how long it will be before the economy starts to improve and stocks start to bounce back. So if you're trying to figure out just how much you need to save now or exactly what age you'll be able to retire, there may not be an immediate answer.

Flexibility is key here, so try your best to ride out this storm and adjust your plans along the way. And there are a few things in particular you can do right now to make that task a little easier.

Regardless of whether you're close to retirement or it's still decades away, it's best tocontinue contributing to your retirement fund. It may feel like you're simply throwing money away when the market is in free fall, but now is actually a smart time to invest when stock prices are low. The stock market will improve over time, so focus on the long term more than the short term.

One thing you don't want to do right now is cash out your retirement fund.Cashing out may sound like a good idea when your investments plummet because you might think it will help salvage whatever money you have left. In reality, though, selling your investments when the stock market is at a low point will only hurt your savings in the long run. By liquidating now and then waiting until the economy improves to start investing again, you're missing out on valuable time to let your money grow.

Once the market starts to recover, it will be easier to gauge whether your savings are enough to be able to retire on time. If you find that your retirement fund isn't quite as robust as you hoped it would be, you'll either need to start stashing away more or push retirement back by a few years. But if the stock market is booming and your investments have grown quickly, you might be right on track for retirement.

If you decide to postpone retirement, working a few years longer has an additional benefit: You could collect larger Social Security checks. You can begin claiming Social Security as early as age 62, but for every month you wait past that age, you'll receive slightly bigger checks. So if you decide to delay retirement by a few years to pad your nest egg, you could also delay benefits, as well, to further boost your retirement income.

Retirement planning is never easy, but it's even more challenging during difficult economic times. While the future may be unpredictable, that doesn't mean you can't take steps to prepare the best you can. By continuing to save and being willing to be flexible with your retirement plans, you can set yourself up for an enjoyable retirement -- even if it's a few years later than you originally expected.

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Here's What to Do If You Need to Postpone Retirement Due to Coronavirus - The Motley Fool

When it comes to retirement, you're well-served to remember the carpenter's rule: Measure twice, cut once. You don't want to claim your Social Security at age 62, for example, and then realize six months later you have to return to the workforce. Missteps like that can be costly.

As you approach retirement, it's wise to check and recheck your financial health -- but it's critical in this period of market volatility. Yes, your retirement savings balance is in flux. And yes, this market downturn, like all the rest, is temporary. But a review of where you stand today, outside of your savings balance, may inspire you to make different choices that'll benefit you tomorrow. If you hope to retire before 2025, here are six steps to measure your retirement readiness.

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View your estimated Social Security benefits by creating an account online at My Social Security. Once you log in, you'll see three estimates of your benefits, depending on when you claim:

If your estimated Social Securitybenefit is disappointing, take steps to increase it while you're still working. The benefit calculation relies on your average monthly income in your 35 highest-paid, income-earning years. Raise that average and you raise your benefit, too.

As with any average, you'd increase it by replacing lower values with higher ones. If your income is at or near its peak, continuing to work will naturally raise your average. Your salary this year, for example, replaces your lower salary of 35 years ago in the calculation. The only time this doesn't apply is if you've earned the Social Security income limit for 35 years straight. That income cap in 2020 is $137,700.

Quantifying your pension income is straightforward if you still have access to the pension administrator. Simply reach out to that administrator and ask about your expected benefits.

Things are trickier if you've lost track of your pension details. In that case, search the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's unclaimed pensions database. Also look through your old employment paperwork, and call former employers' benefits departments and inquire about pension benefits.

Knowing your living expenses in detail is one of the most productive retirement planning steps you can take. That's because your living expenses ultimately determine how much money you need to retire. It is possible to retire as scheduled even when your portfolio is down 20% -- but you'd have to adjust your living expenses now and going forward to make that happen.

Start tracking your spending today. You can use an app like Clarity Money or Mint, or you can regularly download and review your bank transactions manually. The manual review may be more productive, because you have to put your eyes on each transaction to make sense of your spending. That exercise alone often reveals savings opportunities. You might realize you don't need the Friday morning latte or two separate streaming services. Or, when you see the auto-billed charge for your car insurance come through, you might be motivated to shop around for cheaper rates.

You may qualify for retiree benefits through your employer, a union, the military, or the VA. These benefits might include full extension of your healthcare coverage. Or you might get smaller perks, like discounts on hearing aids, glasses, or contacts. Meet with your benefits administrator at work and representatives at any other organizations to get the details. Every perk counts.

Healthcare is a wildcard for retirees. You should qualify for Medicare at age 65, but that coverage still leaves you with deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. By some estimates, you'll spend nearly $300,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses for you and your spouse in retirement.

If you do qualify for retiree healthcare, it is an option to keep that plan and apply for Medicare too. Typically, Medicare would function as your primary insurer and the other coverage would be secondary. You'll have to weigh potential savings against the cost of premiums for the group plan. See if your benefits administrator can help you with this analysis.

Funds saved in a Health Savings Account, or HSA, will also help you manage healthcare costs in retirement. To qualify for an HSA, you must have high-deductible health insurance. Specifically, that means your individual deductible is at least $1,400 or your family deductible is at least $2,800.

Contributions to your HSA are pre-tax, and withdrawals used for medical costs are tax-free. The HSA contribution limit in 2020 is $3,550 as an individual or $7,100 as a family. But if you're 55 or older, you can increase those limits by $1,000. Make those deposits today while you can; you can't make HSA contributions once you transition to Medicare.

Review your life insurance coverage and accumulated cash value in light of your current financial priorities. Accumulated cash value is an asset, and you could use it to bridge a savings shortfall. Your policy should allow you to borrow or directly withdraw that cash value. You could also surrender the policy and the insurer would pay out the accumulated cash value, less any surrender fees. You could even sell your life insurance through a life settlement company. Know that these strategies may have tax implications, so check with your accountant before proceeding.

On the other hand, you may want to protect the death benefit in your policy. In that case, keep paying your premiums and don't withdraw or borrow against your cash value. Pulling cash out of your life insurance generally reduces the death benefit immediately.

A 2025 retirement may still be within striking distance, despite the current stock market craziness. The only way to know is by measuring where you stand today. Go through this exercise and you may realize you're in better shape than you thought. If not, make adjustments and measure again. That's how to get where you need to be.

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Retiring in the Next 5 Years? 6 Steps to Measure Your Retirement Readiness - The Motley Fool

BEND, Ore., March 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With a singular and enduring focus on providing the highest standard of care for its residents for the past 20-plus years, Sunshine Retirement Living, (www.sunshineret.com), a Bend, Oregon-based, family-owned premier senior housing company, is seeking to fill more than 100 open positions at several of its communities across the country. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, Sunshine Retirement Living has deployed a two-fold approach in order to have the most positive impact on their communities. Sunshine Retirement Living has: 1) heightened infection prevention protocols above and beyond CDC guidelines to help ensure the health and safety of its residents and existing employees; and 2) committed to focus on hiring people who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. To that end, initial interviews will be conducted online or over the phone, and all candidates and new employees will undergo strict screenings as directed by the CDC and other leading health organizations and authorities to detect any sign of illness before entering any Sunshine community.

"Sunshine Retirement Living's mission has always been to exceed industry standards and that includes hiring the only the most caring and skilled team members, who are passionate about their roles and their positive impact on seniors' lives," said Luis Serrano, CEO, Sunshine Retirement Living. "To ensure that we continue to provide the highest standard of care and to ensure that our employees get the rest they need to stay healthy physically and mentally, we are immediately seeking to hire more than 100 employees across a wide range of positions. The top requirement for joining the Sunshine team is a commitment to enriching the lives of our residents each and every day."

In addition to several management positions, the company seeks: caregivers, wellness nurses (LPN and RN); cooks, sous chefs, prep cooks and dishwashers; concierges; housekeepers and maintenance coordinators; and CDL bus drivers. Those interested in learning more about the positions and the application process can visit https://www.sunshineretirementliving.com/careers/.

The majority of available positions are at the following communities:

About Sunshine Retirement LivingBased in Bend, Ore., Sunshine Retirement Living manages 32 retirement communities in 16 states, offering senior apartments, independent living, assisted living and memory care. A family-owned business with more than 20 years in the senior housing industry, Sunshine Retirement Living's mission is to be the preferred senior living provider offering value, choice and independence while promoting health and social interaction that exceeds residents' expectations and enriches the lives of both residents and staff. By providing meals, housekeeping, activities, transportation, utilities and in-house management staff, Sunshine Retirement Living continues to build an unparalleled community feeling in each property. For more information, visit http://www.SunshineRet.com or connect socially, @SunshineRetirementLiving.

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Sunshine Retirement Living Now Hiring at Senior Communities Across the United States - PRNewswire

The coronavirus crisis has punished the blameless across the world this year. That includes investors who did the supposed "right thing," by keeping a balanced portfolio to fund long-term gains, just as the experts advise.

As the stock-market cascaded to its recent lows this month, the traditional portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds suffered a greater than 20% decline from its peak value, for only the fourth time since World War II.

At last Monday's low, this standard retirement allocation, as represented by the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund, was 22% off its peak Feb. 19 value driven mostly of course by the 30% tumble in equity indexes that bonds only partially buffered. In fact, near the worst of the stock sell-off bonds were not offsetting the losses by rallying, as everything but cash was liquidated.

Upon request, Ritholtz Wealth Management research director Michael Batnick went back in history to track each time the 60/40 portfolio had taken at least a 20% hit. Such a decline struck initially at only the following points since 1945 (using month-end data for 60% S&P 500 and 40% five-year Treasuries): August 1974, September 2002 and January 2009.

The fact that the 60/40 autopilot approach has only retreated by 20% on a monthly basis four times in 75 years is itself a testament to the smoothing effects of offsetting equity-fixed income interplay.

What happened next after the prior 20% setbacks? Those months were all within months of the trough of major bear markets, though in each case the ultimate low for the stock indexes was still to come.

Batnick calculates that in those three instances in 1974, 2002 and 2009, it took between 10 and 20 months for this portfolio to recover back to its peak level.

An investor who kept to the disciplined approach and rebalanced holdings back to the 60/40 asset split at the end of the month when a 20% decline was first registered would have been positioned for attractive returns in subsequent years.

In those three instances, the average annual total return from the 60/40 portfolio was close to 12% over the following five years. That's a healthy advantage over the very long-term average yearly return of around 9% for this asset allocation.

This is perhaps comforting, if not terribly surprising. Any investment discipline that triggers a move to take advantage of steep underperformance in one asset classes tends to be rewarded over time. And rebalancing after big declines in a blended-asset portfolio has generally been about buying nasty breaks in stock indexes.

On a more opportunistic, shorter-term basis, strategist Terry Gardner of C.J. Lawrence last week noted that simply buying the S&P 500 the last three times it's dropped 25% from a peak (1987, 2001 and 2008), as it did this month, has always led to positive returns over the next year even though in none of those instances did the minus-25% level represent the ultimate low for stocks. Those returns one year out were 20% after 1987, 2.5% after 2001 and 18% after 2008.

Are there reasons to be skeptical that holding fast to the 60/40 stance this time will not fare as well as in past decades? Some investment professionals have discussed for some time that the essential premise of the 60/40 mix has been challenged due to extremely low bond yields that leave far less room for bonds to appreciate in an economic slowdown or crisis, mitigating their value as ballast to stocks.

Goldman Sachs strategists last week sounded a cautious note on this front last week with regard to the present market skid. "In addition to the sharper-than-normal equity correction, diversication in 60/40 portfolios has been less good," the firm said. "With bond yields at all-time lows now and close to the effective lower bound, there is little space for most [developed-market] bonds to buffer equity drawdowns."

Stretching deeper into history, skeptics might note the 60/40 portfolio carried a 20% loss for longer stretches in the 1930s, when stocks stayed deep underwater during the entire Great Depression.

So perhaps the traditional asset mix will get less help over time from bond yields squeezing lower in tough times (barring a move to negative yields, which would create a whole other set of issues). Still, bonds can still serve the role as cushion against equity losses.

The entire issue of rebalancing is hardly just an academic issue. The impulse from pension funds and automated asset-allocation vehicles to shift hundreds of billions in assets from fixed-income to stocks was detailed by strategists across Wall Street and was at least one significant driver of the surge in the S&P 500 into Thursday's close.

The S&P 500 at its low point last week was underperforming the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index by some 30 percentage points year to date. Bespoke Investment Group notes that this effectively turned a 60/40 portfolio into a 55/45 mix, requiring one of the bigger rebalancing moves in years.

Of course, to the extent that this mechanical reallocation is timed to the quarter's end, it means one short-term tailwind for the rebound rally has just about abated, as the market bounce leaves the indexes less stretched and investors have celebrated fresh trillions of dollars in support from the Federal Reserve and Congress.

Strategist Tony Dwyer of Canaccord Genuity, who's been waiting for a retest of last week's low to get more aggressively positioned, noted Friday, "Over coming days, the market will not be as oversold, the pension rebalancing will be done, and the bulk of monetary and fiscal stimulus will have been announced."

While those factors could present a test of the immediate resilience of the market's attempted comeback, they don't much alter the case for long-term investors to take what the market has served up with its swift retrenchment this month.

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The traditional retirement portfolio of stocks and bonds is down 20% for only the fourth time since WWII - CNBC

COVID-19 Storm Lake school lunch

Mike Sullivan, assistant Storm Lake elementary principal, passes out a lunch Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at West Ninth Street Park in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Storm Lake Community School District started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Kellie Anderson, principal of early childhood programs and special education director, passes out a lunch Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in a parking lot at an apartment complex in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Storm Lake Community School District started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Mike Sullivan, assistant Storm Lake elementary principal, rings a triangle to draw attention while walking down a street in a northside neighborhood to give away lunches Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Storm Lake Community School District started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Mike Sullivan, assistant Storm Lake elementary principal, left, and superintendent Stacey Cole, knock on a door at a home where children live while giving away lunches Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Storm Lake Community School District started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Mike Sullivan, assistant Storm Lake elementary principal, left, and Kellie Anderson, principal of early childhood programs and special education director, right, stop a car carrying children to give them free lunches Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Storm Lake Community School District started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Food service worker Ashley Keene passes bags of food through the window of a car driven by Erika Petersen Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at a drive-up lunch distribution at Storm Lake High School in Storm Lake, Iowa. The school district started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Food service workers, from left, Ashley Keene, Barb Phillips, Amber Flores and Tina Hansen pass out lunches Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at a drive-up lunch distribution at Storm Lake High School in Storm Lake, Iowa. The school district started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Storm Lake Community School District Superintendent Stacey Cole, waves to children walking down a street while passes out lunches Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Storm Lake, Iowa. The school district started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Food service worker Ashley Keene passes out a lunch Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at a drive-up lunch distribution at Storm Lake High School in Storm Lake, Iowa. The school district started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Food service worker Tina Hansen keeps a tally of how many meals have been handed out Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at a drive-up lunch distribution at Storm Lake High School in Storm Lake, Iowa. The school district started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Food service worker Ashley Keene hands bags of food to a motorist as she and Tina Hansen, left, and Barb Phillips work Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at a drive-up lunch distribution at Storm Lake High School in Storm Lake, Iowa. The school district started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Mike Sullivan, assistant Storm Lake elementary principal, left facing camera, and Kellie Anderson, principal of early childhood programs and special education director, right, and superintendent Stacey Cole, far left, give away lunches in the middle of a Storm Lake street Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Storm Lake Community School District started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

Workers prepare lunches for distribution Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at Storm Lake High School in Storm Lake, Iowa. The Storm Lake Community School District started free distribution of breakfasts and lunches Monday to anyone under 18 to help feed youth who would otherwise be missing meals in the wake of the schools' closure over COVID-19 pandemic concerns. Lunchtime Solutions, the district's meal contractor, made 1,200 sack lunches for distribution Tuesday.

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At Sioux City retirement communities, families visit at the window and bingo is played in the doorway - Sioux City Journal

UNITED STATES - MARCH 25: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., center, arrives to the ... [+] Capitol before speaking on the Senate floor about a coronavirus stimulus package on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The negotiating parties stayed up past their bedtime Tuesday night, announcing a deal. There were subsequent complaints about errors in the legislation. Finally, late Wednesday night, the Senate passed its economic stimulus and relief bill and sent it to the House.

Now the $2 trillion (yes, with a T) economic relief bills text has finally been released. For a run-down of the particulars of the bill as a whole, see the story here.

But Ive been keeping an eye on the retirement-related pieces.

For savers - section 2202

Individuals affected by the coronavirus will be permitted to take a withdrawal from their retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s, etc.) of up to $100,000, without paying the usual early-withdrawal penalty. In addition, the sum withdrawn may be recontributed to a retirement account within three years, without being subject to the usual annual contribution caps. If its not repaid, the withdrawal will be taxed at ordinary income tax rates over a three-year period. Notably, the definition of eligibility for penalty free early withdrawals is rather expansive, encompassing anyone experiencing any economic effects due to the virus.

In addition, the limit on loans from retirement plans is increased from its existing $50,000 to $100,000 and the existing limitation that loans may not exceed half the vested account balance has been removed. Due dates for new loans or loans already outstanding are also to be extended by one year.

The legislation resembles prior iterations of disaster relief, most recently for individuals affected by the three 2017 hurricanes of Harvey, Irma, and Maria.

For retirees - section 2203

The legislation waives the required minimum distributions for IRAs and other individual retirement accounts for calendar year 2020.

For pension plans - sections 3607 and 3608

Readers will recall that earlier this week I featured the concerns of pension plan sponsors that, absent government action, they would face challenges with respect to quarterly pension plan contributions due as soon as April 15, at a time when they are facing challenges with cashflow and can ill-afford to direct money to pensions. This legislation relieves that worry by deferring those contributions to January 1, 2021, with interest. In addition, one component of existing funding rules is that plans with a funded status of less than 80% (based on the relevant government regulations) are unable to pay out lump sums to their participants. In order to prevent a low funded status calculation due to coronavirus economic impacts from triggering this restriction, plans would be able to use the last measurement prior to 2020 in place of their 2020 measurement. Finally, in the same manner as the Department of Labor previously had authority to postpone various sorts of deadlines for requirements in ERISA for cases of terrorism or war, the law grants them the same ability due to a public health emergency a change that doesnt have any immediate effect but enables the Department of Labor to invoke this ERISA clause to grant extensions, as they did, for example, in 2017 with the hurricanes and California wildfires.

Whats missing from the bill?

The House version of relief/stimulus was criticized for its grab-bag of provisions and inclusion of items on a wish list that were unrelated to the crisis at hand. Among these was the Butch Lewis Act that is, the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions, House-passed legislation that promised to solve the multiemployer crisis by means of 30 year loans in which only interest is paid for the first 29 years, and a final principal payment in year 30 is forgivable if the plan cant pay.

The House version also provided funding relief (or special treatment and exemptions from properly funding workers pensions, depending on your perspective) for community newspapers.

Im perfectly happy that these provisions were excluded.

But the House bill also included provisions for employer-sponsored pensions to help them in the medium-term: the ability to make up deficits caused by the market crash and the poor economy over fifteen rather than seven years, and boosts in the anticipated very-low discount rates companies would otherwise be obliged to use to calculate their liabilities (remember, the lower a discount rate is, the higher the liabilities, and those rates are at a historic low at the moment). To be sure, 95% of pension plans have a plan year that matches the calendar year, so that there is some time to be had for these plans, both in terms of future legislation and ability to see what the economy actually looks like some months from now, but others will need to measure their liabilities on dates as soon as April 1st.

What pension-related special treatment items remain?

One, that I can tell: a special benefit for the March of Dimes. This is Section 3609: Application of Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Plan Rules to Certain Charitable Employers Whose Primary Exempt Purpose Is Providing Services With Respect to Mothers and Children.

As it happens, in 2014, various small charities and other similar employers were given exemptions from current pension plan funding requirements, and permitted to fund their pensions in a less-stringent manner. The March of Dimes did not fit the criteria for a designation as a cooperative or small employer charity pension plan but, back in November, a group of legislators introduced a bill to include them with new narrowly defined criteria (provides services with respect to mothers and children and conducts medical research . . . through grant-making and has been in existence since at least 1938). Why March of Dimes? Reporting from a year ago describes fundraising shortfalls, proliferation of competitor fundraising walks, and efforts to rebrand and refocus.

(Note that this is different from the exemptions for church plans; plans sponsored by churches/religious groups have a longstanding exemption from federal funding requirements but are likewise not protected by the federal government through the PBGC. These small charity plans are protected by the PBGC but are nonetheless subjected to more lenient funding rules.)

Was this worthwhile legislation that just wasnt able to pass on its own? As an actuary, Im not happy with it, but in the grand scheme of things, its small potatoes.

What about the payroll tax credit?

Yes, every time there are proposals to give tax relief in the form of payroll tax credits/cuts, there are people who get upset that this will damage Social Security. The logic is this: if the Trust Fund is not made whole by means of transfers from general federal funds, then Social Securitys funding suffers. And if the funds are replenished, this weakens the degree to which Social Security funding is separate and set-apart from the rest of the government operations. Heres the advocacy group Social Security Works:

The Republican plan would replace Social Securitys dedicated revenue with deficit-funded general revenue, but this is a trap. Once the pandemic is done, Republicans will undoubtedly use the general revenueto demand cuts to Social Security in the name of reining in entitlements.

The reality is that delivering benefits via a mechanism of payroll tax credits is not a nefarious scheme to weaken Social Security, but simply something thats logistically/administratively easy to do, or, at any rate, comparatively easier than other mechanisms for accomplishing the same purpose.

What next?

Fundamentally, there are too many unknowns to speculate. Will the pandemic and its economic effects turn out to be the equivalent of a particularly nasty recession? Will the effects be so different from a normal recession as to cause economic textbook rewrites? And how will that affect the world of retirement?

As always, youre invited to comment at JaneTheActuary.com!

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A Guide To The Retirement-Related Provisions In The Senate Coronavirus Stimulus/Relief Bill - Forbes