An Industry Haunted by Its Own History
The ghost of demutualization haunts much of the annuity industry today. But that topic was not on the agenda of the annual LIMRA conference in New York earlier this week...
Honorable Mention
Arthur Laffer, the supply-sider, dabbles in financial wellness; BBVA launches robo-advice tool on BNY Mellon Pershing platform; Migration to bonds finally reverses: TrimTabs.
Which Annuities Pay Out the Most?
The answer depends on whether your clients want income to start now or in five years or 10 years. Indexed annuities offer the highest minimum income guarantees, if you...
‘RIAs, You’ve Got to Try This’: Macchia
'A recent article said that high valuations make this the worst possible time to retire. I say, This is the perfect time to retire if your advisor has provided...
Will Fee-Only Advisors Warm to Annuities?
At the National Association of Personal Financial Planners' meeting in Philadelphia this week, Wade Pfau of The American College and David Lau of DPL Financial Planners urged fee-only advisors...
Ohio National Hits the Trail
Advisors who sold rich Ohio National variable annuities with guaranteed minimum income benefits are fuming at the insurer's announcement that it would no longer pay "trail" commissions to certain...
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....
