Post-Election Overhang
Despite recent court rulings, Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Labor leaves some room for uncertainty over the future of rollover-related ERISA regulation.
Anecdotal Evidence
An Odd Couple: Trump Visits My Half-Latino Town
Annuity sales are at an all-time high. Equity indexes are at all-time highs. Inflation has tapered, interest rates are favorable to life insurance companies, and unemployment is still low....
Test Your ‘401(k) Annuity’ Math Skills
Should 401(k) participants pay fees on annuity benefits they don't know they have, and never use? Are 'in-plan' annuity fees 'fixed' if the issuer can change the benefit crediting...
The Bermuda Triangle’s 1980s Roots
There are clear similarities between the business scheme that brought down Executive Life Insurance Co. in 1991 and the 'Bermuda Triangle' strategy that many US life/annuity companies use.
Double Trouble in the Bermuda Triangle
What can go wrong with the Bermuda Triangle strategy, with its closely affiliated annuity issuers, reinsurers and asset managers? PHL Variable Insurance, a former unit of Nassau Financial, is...
The DOL Should Challenge the Fifth Circuit’s Opinion
When insurance agents encourage IRA owners or rollover candidates to buy fixed indexed annuities, are they like EMTs, who save lives without having to be MDs or carry malpractice...
Here Come the Suits
Close observers of the 'Bermuda Triangle' strategy weren't surprised when class action lawsuits were filed against AT&T, State Street Global Advisors and Lockheed Market for their choice of Athene...
We’re Baaaaaaaaack
Too much is happening in the retirement industry to ignore. So I'm planning to publish RIJ once a month, nine times a year, while spending the rest of my...
Of Athene, Pension Risk Transfers, and Fiduciaries
The ERISA Advisory Council recently heard comments on changing the criteria that fiduciaries use when vetting annuity providers in pension risk transfer deals. Athene's vice chairman defended his company's...
RIJ’s Next Phase
In the near future, I plan to turn the RIJ website into a free library of information on retirement income planning. Before then, I hope to revise 'Annuities for...
You Can’t Eat Your Own Head
The US faces an unsustainable fiscal imbalance of about $250 trillion over eternity, says an econometrics think tank. For several reasons, the analysis doesn't worry me.
The Bear That Ate My Grandfather
When I saw on Bloomberg that the stock market had fallen into "bear market territory," I paid a little attention, but not much. I know the worst that a...
A New Kind of RIJ is on the Way
Over the next few months, I plan to redesign the site. My goal will be to make the material that I’ve written and collected since April 2009 more accessible...
Annuities are Sorely Misunderstood
About 97% of all annuities sold are deferred annuities. I think of them more as tax-deferred, principal-protected investments than as personal pensions in retirement. Most people don't know the difference.
Private Equity and Accounting Firms
"I’d like to call this the ‘private equity invasion.’ With rock and roll, it was the British invasion. You know, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. This is going...
Social Security’s Political Problems
As evidenced by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget's objections to a recent Social Security bill, even the moderates in Washington can't agree on reforms.
Why RIJ Obsesses over the ‘Bermuda Triangle’
Private equity is no longer a sideshow in the annuity industry. Its involvement is now the main event. But we know too little about private equity’s growing role in...
Bloomberg’s Ideas for Overhauling 401(k)s
Bloomberg editors call the existing 401(k) program 'dysfunctional' and a 'morass.' Their critique is valid, but their suggestions are not quite new.
To Make the Economy Better, Let’s Not Make It Worse
Raising interest rates, driving down asset prices, and sparking layoffs can't be the best way to neutralize a petroleum-driven inflation. But higher rates could make real returns on bonds...
White Paper Warns of PE-Led Life Insurers
The co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research claims that conflicts of interest, risky investments, and regulatory arbitrage accompany the incursion of private equity firms into the life/annuity...
