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'...
A Marvel of Financial Engineering
Like a tough cut of beef that becomes fit for a king if you cook it for a long time at a low temperature, this new fixed indexed annuity...
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...
Fed chairman promises to do ‘whatever it takes’
'A wave of unnecessary insolvencies could do long-term damage to the productive capacity of the economy. That’s a risk,' Fed chairman Jerome Powell (in photo) said Wednesday.
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...
Please Don’t Raid Your Retirement Account
It would be smart, not paternalistic, to ease today’s financial pain without contributing to an even bigger retirement funding crisis down the road.
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 Shape-Shifting ‘Equity Risk Premium’
Investors buy stocks because they believe they will outperform risk-free bonds by five or six percentage points per year over the long-term. But the risk-free rate, equity returns, and...
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.
The ‘Fed Put’ Hurts Annuities—and Retirees
Low rates encourage excessive risk-taking. But the Fed keeps accommodating market sell-offs, which sets up a new round of boom and bust. Retirees (and the annuity issuers who serve...
Another Tough Decade for Annuities?
“With zero rates, I get a ‘shrinking iceberg’ feeling,” said Tim Paris, president of Ruark Consulting. He tracks annuity contract owner behavior and sees danger for life insurers at...
‘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.
Observation Posts
Expert opinions on the crisis from Rob Arnott, David Babbel, A.M. Best, Zvi Bodie, Bill Borton, Francois Gadenne, Stan Haithcock, Per Linnemann, Sandy Mackenzie, Sheryl Moore, Steve Slifer, Eugene...
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...
A Reminder that Market Risk Is Real
This equity slump can serve as a teaching moment for near-retirees who underestimated their need to develop a solid retirement income plan.
Yes, I Finally Bought an Annuity
Deciding to buy the contract wasn't easy. Maybe it wasn't even rational. But we feel relieved. We don't sweat these short-term market slides.
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...
Why Bernie is So Demanding
Sen. Sanders is the atavistic avatar of demand-side economics, which dominated public policy from 1932 to 1971. Supply-side economics has held sway since the Reagan years. The 2020 election...
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...