Sizing Up Lincoln Financial
Over the past 40 years, events and trends have helped determine Lincoln Financial Group's size today, which is smaller than its rivals in the individual annuity market. Former Lincoln...
Anecdotal Evidence
Applying Actuarial Science to Income Planning
Adviser Mark Shemtob uses actuarial science to analyze and compare retirement income strategies that employ both annuities and investments.
Seeking ‘Ambidextrous Advisers’
In the future, we intend to strengthen our content for financial advisers while still serving our long-standing audience of annuity professionals. We think all of our readers will benefit...
An HNW Adviser’s Personal Income Plan
Besides deferred income annuities, Alex Powers of Bergen County, NJ, holds a sprinkling of real estate investment trusts (REITs), along with long-duration bonds, junk bonds, closed-end funds, gold, and...
In Defense of ‘Buffered’ Annuities
A Wall Street Journal's article last weekend ('An Imperfect Solution to a Calamity') could have put structured variable annuities (aka registered index-linked annuities) in a much more positive light.
So Far, Most 401(k)s Don’t Amount to Much
The 401(k) system still hasn’t produced the generation of wealthy retirees that, under ideal conditions, it could have. Scholars from the American Enterprise Institute and the Center for Retirement...
It’s Too Late for ‘Medicare for All’
Medicare Advantage plans, which offer zero premium coverage for those 65 and over, are here to stay. But when ‘the product is free, you’re the product.’ Pairing traditional Medicare...
The Pfau Phenomenon
In a decade's worth of presentations, books and research papers, Pfau has arguably pierced the resistance of independent advisers to the floor-and-upside retirement income method (and to annuities) to...
A More Impeachable Offense
The president’s efforts to pressure the Fed chairman into lowering interest rates to boost the stock market may be more abusive than his call to the president of Ukraine....
Investors Flocked to Money Funds in August
August also saw the value of passive U.S. equity funds surpass the value of U.S. actively managed equity funds by about $25 billion ($4.271 trillion vs. $4.246 trillion), according...
Why Eight States Are Suing Over ‘Reg BI’
'Dually registered' advisers can switch hats between the broker/commission model and the adviser/AUM model as needed, to the confusion and expense of investors. Eight state attorneys general say the...
We Deserve Better
We were on our way up and out of the extreme low interest rate regime until the end of July, when factors related to the 2020 election came into...
Storm Warning? Let an Annuity By Your Umbrella
For advisors who sell annuities, market tremors are known to stimulate business. After a bit of volatility, older investors in particular show more interest in taking profits out of...
Of Black Walnut Trees and ‘the Debt’
'Now tell me again,' said my neighbor, who works as a public health administrator, 'why I shouldn’t worry about the size of the federal debt.' So I did.
Apple Stock, Bourbon and Cigars
Every summer, I try to spend a weekend with two old friends. We used to talk about our spouses and children. Now we talk most about retirement and money....
Of ‘Thrillers, Spillers, and Fillers,’ Plus the Mueller Hearings
Like every decorative pot of plants, every retirement income plan needs a 'thriller, a spiller and a filler.' We also deconstruct this week's Mueller hearings.
Where’s the Nuance in News about Annuities?
In stories about annuities, even in the Wall Street Journal, writers seem to assume that annuities are a single product, and not five or six financial products with overlapping...
MMT Isn’t a Joke
Modern Monetary Theory's enemies have been trying to discredit it either by equating it with something stupid (printing money willy-nilly) or by making jokes about it. But MMT isn't...
Making a Case for the COLA-SPIA
'First optimize Social Security. If that ‘paycheck’ isn't enough, buy a SPIA. An inflation-indexed SPIA would be ideal. A COLA-SPIA may be the next best alternative,' Joe Tomlinson told...
Is the SECURE Act Too Weak to Make a Difference?
Yes, there's a new 'safe harbor' for selecting an annuity provider for a 401(k) plan in legislation that appears headed for the president's signature. But there's no sign that...
