Who Runs EBSA? It Matters
Ali Khawar, the acting head of the DOL's Employee Benefit Security Administration, spoke at an American Academy of Actuaries webinar. To learn about EBSA’s initiatives, we tuned in.
Anecdotal Evidence
Consumer Groups Urge DOL to Tighten “Reg BI”
Consumer advocacy groups are urging the Department of Labor to return to its 2016 stance--when it required annuity sellers to pledge to act solely in their clients' best interest...
‘I Can’t Believe This’
Ukraine had been touted as a cheap place for Americans to retire. That's one way to look at it. Of the ~11 million retirees in Ukraine (as of mid-2021),...
Will Buy-Out Firms Buy Out Medicare?
'Direct Contracting,' as the experiment is called, could put private equity (PE) firms between doctors and patients.
Confessions of an MMT Groupie
Systems of paper money or “fiat money” have always been, and remain, as problematic as they are powerful. I can’t speak for MMT economists, but I don’t think that...
Energize a SPIA with Equities: Cannex
A new Cannex white paper shows how a single-premium immediate annuity (SPIA) combined with a strong equity allocation can make savings last longer in retirement and still provide a...
Why Asset Managers Keep Buying Annuity Issuers
What is concerning are not so much the practices of pioneers of this business. More concerning are the 'me-too' players--smaller johnny-come-lately asset managers who want some of those billions...
The ‘Catch-22’ of Social Security
Don't let the pundits confuse you into trading your retirement parachute for paper. We need Social Security AND employer-sponsored retirement savings plans.
‘Retirement Bonds’ could increase income, lower risk: EDHEC
Similar to the SeLFIES proposed by Robert Merton and Arun Muralidhar, the Retirement Bonds proposed by Lionel Martellini and Shahyar Safaee of France's EDHEC Risk Institute would guarantee safe...
Don’t Fight Inflation with Unemployment
If our current inflationary trend is caused by kinks in the global supply chain, does it make sense to raise interest rates, knock asset prices down, and put people...
The Trust Gap between Advisers and Black Women
A new study by The American College's Center for Economic Empowerment and Equality shows that Black women don't trust financial advisers. But to learn the origins of that mistrust,...
Inflation, Debt, Debt, Interest Rates, Taxes: They Can’t All Be Low
If you read the papers, watch the news, or scroll through sites, you'd get the impression that all four horsemen of the financial apocalypse will attack us at once....
2011-2020 FIA Returns Were Modest, Data Suggests
FIAs returned an average of 3.23% per calendar year from 2011 to 2020 (inclusive), my review of data from LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute showed. FIA industry assets grew 180%...
Let’s Get This (Income) Party Started!
I watched a webinar this week on 'Key Trends in Defined Contribution Plans,' hosted by the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives. Regarding demand for income options in 401k plans,...
How to Make US Retirement Policy Work Better
"Wealth After Work," a new book edited by William Gale, Mark Iwry and David John (Brookings Institution Press, 2021) gathers together the many retirement-related reforms that they and other...
The Bermuda Triangle was Busy this Summer
On August 9, a new Bermuda-based reinsurer created by Brookfield Asset Management (owner of that upscale mall in lower Manhattan) bought American National Life for $5.1 billion and Global...
Not All Annuity Issuers Are Alike
When choosing an annuity from a life insurer, advisers and clients need to understand that life/annuity companies have different business models and ownership structures, and that these differences matter....
RIJ Talks ‘Bermuda Triangle’ on Chuck Jaffe’s Money Life Show
On Tuesday, August 10, I was a guest on Chuck Jaffe's Money Life Show, where Jaffe interviewed me about the 'Bermuda Triangle' trend and its implications for life insurers...
Your Dream Cabin in the Rockies
What's involved in owning a rustic retirement cabin in Colorado? Time, wealth, health, gregariousness, and a passion for the natural world. And an ability to forego cellphones and Wi-Fi...
Is a Life/Annuity Crisis Brewing?
Observers of the "Bermuda Triangle" phenomenon worry about the quantity and the quality of the assets supporting reinsured annuities in regulatory havens like Bermuda, Vermont, Arizona and elsewhere.
