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...
The SECURE Act Set To Pass (Finally)
'This is an early Christmas present,' said Melissa Kahn, managing director of the Defined Contribution team at State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), in an interview yesterday.
A Few of Our Best Income Strategies
For today’s issue of RIJ, we’ve retrieved several of our best income-planning articles from our archives. In each case, the adviser goes beyond the “safe withdrawal” method to design...
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.
Prudential Joins the SIMON Platform
Prudential's PruSecure fixed indexed annuity is the first annuity product to be offered on the SIMON structured products platform, which had previously specialized in structured notes. Prudential also invested...
‘SIMON’ Makes Indexed Annuities Simpler
Originally a platform for distributing structured notes to broker-dealers, SIMON is adding index-linked annuities to its product suite. Prudential is both an investor and, as of today, a product...
Annuities and the Charles Schwab Deal
Most of the annuities now on the Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade platforms are offered by mutual or foreign-owned life insurers. Lincoln Financial is the sole exception.
Longevity Insurance with an Inter-Generational Twist
In MassMutual's new all-digital deferred income annuity, an adult child is the owner, and receives income when a parent (the annuitant) reaches age 91.
‘Top of Mind’ Wealth Management Platforms
Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Vanguard were the three firms most often named by investors without hints, according to Cerulli Associates. (Forty years of brand-building never hurts.)
Marshmallows and Social Security
Should US retirees delay claiming Social Security until age 70, even if they have to spend savings until then? The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College proposes that...
How to Choose an Annuity Issuer
Shopping for an annuity, like shopping for a car, involves questions about the manufacturer of the product. Do their products perform as expected? Will service quality be high? Are...
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...
Time to Put Benjamins Back in the Sock Drawer?
At the LIMRA annual conference in Boston earlier this week, MIT economist James Poterba described how low interest rates make saving for retirement more of a challenge.
Pitching Income Annuities on Greed
Speakers Wade Pfau and Curtis Cloke showed planners at the Financial Planning Association's 2019 conference in Minneapolis that income annuities can provide growth as well as protection.
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...
Uncertainty at Both Ends of Retirement
'Ignoring retirement age uncertainty can potentially have a significant (negative) impact on potential retirement outcomes,' writes David Blanchett of Morningstar in an award-winning research paper.
Research Roundup
Recent research offers new insights into financial decision-making, the decision to work after retirement, and reveals surprising links between aging and interest rates, the rise of the service economy,...
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...
‘Safety First’ Income Plans, Per Wade Pfau
Pfau's new book shows the benefits of replacing bonds with annuities for less risk and more income in retirement.
Federal judge dismisses adviser suit against ONL
The judge rejected the claim that Ohio National Life was obligated by its distribution contract with LPL to keep paying trail commissions on the sale of variable annuities to...
