Research Roundup
For weeks, interesting studies have been gushing from the National Bureau of Economic Research and elsewhere on the economic implications of COVID-19. We've selected and summarized seven of them...
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With BluePrint Income, AARP Ups its Ante on Annuity Sales
AARP's 38 million members can now buy income annuities and fixed-rate annuities on a platform powered by fintech firm Blueprint Income. Buyers get a complimentary annual 'retirement income check-up'...
We Could Use Some Inflation
The Treasury said this week that it will borrow (and spend) about $3 trillion this quarter, to cover its stimulus promises. Where does that money come from and where...
Look Homeward, Seeker of Liquidity
During a market crisis, a reverse mortgage home equity line of credit (ReLOC) can be a lifeline of ready cash for homeowners ages 62 and older. Don Graves of...
Portfolio Rebound: How Long Should It Take?
Using his proprietary 'aftcasting' technique instead of Monte Carlo simulations, the author shows how long it will probably take different portfolios to recover after a negative market shock.
The CARES Act Isn’t Careful Enough
If this agonizing period leads to genuine reform, our 'blood, sweat and tears' (to borrow Winston Churchill’s famous words) won't have been in vain, writes our contributor.
Stormy Weather for Life Insurers
Life insurers are buffeted by a perfect storm of falling interest rates, falling share prices and falling sales of annuities. But, according to David Paul of ALIRT Insurance Research,...
The Big Sick Leave: How Bad Will The Economy Get?
Economists don't expect the crisis to resolve before the summer. Assuming that no effective vaccine or treatment appears suddenly, we’re probably in for a long campaign.
‘Dull’ Investments Shine in a Crisis
Three retirement experts talk about boring products that you might wish you owned right now: I-Bonds, cash value life insurance and annuities.
Turn 401(k)s into Bond Ladders
Franklin Templeton SVP Drew Carrington says his firm's Defined Maturity Funds, which work like bond ladders, could provide retirement income for 401(k) participants, and could be paired with qualified...
An Actuary Assesses COVID-19
A mortality and longevity expert at Willis Towers Watson writes that 'the variability of the mortality impact by age makes the impact highly variable by type...
At These Rates, Why Bother to Save?
Negative real interest rates have become a disincentive to personal savings, especially among lower-income Americans who will rely heavily on Social Security and Medicaid anyway, this team of economists...
Project LIMA Aims to Solve the Annuity Puzzle
Milliman, the actuarial consulting firm, envisions putting a multi-premium deferred income annuity inside a 401(k) managed account as a way to turn tax-deferred savings into lifetime income. It seeks...
Ask the Wizard: Can I Retire?
We tested online retirement readiness calculators at Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, New York Life, Pacific Life and the Alliance for Lifetime Income to look for best practices that might inform...
Research Roundup
These five research papers explain why many institutional investors still work with 'high-touch' brokers, why the economy may slow as populations shrink, why parents might save more than they...
A New Kind of Old Folks’ Home
For retirees who want a bundled (but not too restrictive) solution to their future housing and medical needs, a Type-C Continuing Care Retirement Community is an option. RIJ looked...
Tetris, Taxes and Retirement
The tradition of withdrawing taxable, tax-deferred and finally tax-free assets in retirement may be obsolete. Matching retirees' tax brackets with the right account types may be better. It's like...
RIJ Interview: Will Fuller of Lincoln Financial
In the third in our series of interviews with annuity industry leaders, we talk with Lincoln Financial Group executive VP Will Fuller. He was recently honored as an 'Industry...
Extreme Longevity? He Lives It
Nearing age 100, social scientist Jacob S. Siegel is still vigorously lecturing and writing. He spoke about the 'demography of retirement' at the triennial 'Living to 100 Symposium' in...
A Look Back at (and Beyond) the ‘Stretch’ IRA
Under the new SECURE Act, most non-spouses must withdraw and pay taxes on inherited IRA assets within ten years instead of "stretching" the process over (possibly) decades. What will...
