Meet the Dare-Devils Who Own Annuities
In an elaborate media event to launch the Alliance for Lifetime Income, a jet-car driver, a shark wrangler, and four C-level life insurance company executives gathered in and around...
Red Bulls and Blue Bears
After the 2016 election, Republicans shifted toward equities and Democrats shifted toward bonds. MIT researchers found that out of step with the classic image of the ‘rational investor’ and...
Guess What: America Is Rich
Warning: Ingestion of the contents of this column may cause symptoms of apoplexy and dyspepsia among disciples of classical macroeconomics, neo-liberalism, or 'deficit hawks' in the US Congress. ...
On the Case: Plan for A Couple with $750K
RIJ asked advisor/actuary Jerry Golden, founder of Golden Retirement, Go2Income.com, and the Income Power method, to develop a retirement income plan for the 'M.T. Knestors,' a couple with about...
Enjoy Today’s Income Plan
RIJ is committed to regularly publishing examples of retirement income plans that advisors and firms--call them decumulation pioneers--have developed for real (but anonymous) clients.
How to Make Your Widow Merrier
The generosity of the Social Security spousal benefit is something every primary earner should understand. Yet many spouses--and even some professionals--aren't sure exactly how it works.
Research Roundup
Recent research suggests that factor investing may beat passive; air pollution promotes dementia; investors buy active funds because they believe hard work pays off; Fed 'surprises' cause wider ripples...
Making Annuities Easier for RIAs
It's no longer a minority report. We talk to executives at Envestnet, DPL Financial, RetireOne, Allianz Life and United Capital about new platforms for helping registered investment advisors integrate...
Allianz Life adds living benefit to structured index annuity
The new Allianz product offers four index options, two death benefit options, five combinations of performance caps and downside buffers and a living benefit rider with deferral bonuses and...
Meet the First ‘Structured Outcome’ ETF
Innovator Capital Management and Milliman have built the first structured outcome product on an exchange-traded fund (ETF) chassis, challenging the annuity monopoly in this category.
The Science (Not Sci-Fi) of Social Security
The overlap of Social Security policy and behavioral finance was the subject of several papers aired at the Retirement Research Consortium’s 20th annual meeting last week. Economists are trying...
The Big Turnaround in Retirement Policy
Since November 2016, the direction of retirement policy in the U.S. has reversed. Legislators, not bureaucrats, are in the lead. The SEC, not DOL is in charge of ethics....
‘PEP’ Talk
In this sixth installment of our series on "pooled employer plans" or PEPs
(also known as "open multiple employer plans" or MEPs), we asked 401(k) experts if this new...
A Brave New Deregulated 401(k) World
'There are three factors that we think are converging and are likely to help move the needle” in terms of expanding plan adoption by small employers, said Ben Norquist,...
Sneak Preview of New Book on Behavioral Finance
In a chapter of a forthcoming book, four Ivy League academics discuss the possible reasons why so few people buy life annuities. I add a few theories of my...
Mind the Coverage Gap
'I am not aware of any predictions that a significant percentage of small employers who do not currently offer a plan will now adopt a PEP,' said Jack Towarnicky,...
The ‘Institutionalization’ of the 401(k)
The defined contribution retirement system may be about to become less employer-driven and more industry-driven. RIJ talks about it with DCIIA president and CEO Lew Minsky.
Turning the 401(k) on Its Head
Executives at State Street Global Advisors, Transamerica, Securian, and Prudential discuss their strategies for developing multiple employer 401(k) plans for small companies and helping to close the 401(k) ‘coverage...
