A Pre-ICO Lunch at Gibraltar
I rented a Fiat 500 and drove to Gibraltar for a mid-day meal with Dean McClelland, the creator of TontineTrust, a retirement income product based on crypto-currency.
It’s Hot Around the ‘Collar’
Nervous investors can get an indexed collar strategy from an annuity or an ETF. Great West Financial and Innovator Capital Management have new products in the category. Cap-and-buffer products,...
No surrender penalty on Jackson National’s new advisory FIA
The MarketProtector's IncomeAccelerator living benefit ratchets up the client's annual withdrawal rate for each year when no withdrawals are taken.
Float shrink: US firms continue to buy stock
New cash takeovers have totaled $48.1 billion, and they have would have been $136.9 billion had Broadcom’s bid for Qualcomm succeeded, said TrimTabs research.
Hold the Parade
Annuity industry advocates say that this week's Fifth District Court of Appeals ruling has nullified the DOL fiduciary rule. Others disagree. I question Judge Jones' understanding of how the...
In Canada, ‘LIFE’ Begins at 85
Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald (right or below), a research fellow at Toronto's Ryerson University, proposes a voluntary, tontine-like deferred income annuity called Lifetime Income for the Elderly (LIFE). Canadians could make...
‘We Shall Never Surrender!’
At the Insured Retirement Industry's marketing conference in Orlando this week, speakers from AXA, Brighthouse Financial (formerly MetLife’s retail division), Great-West Financial, Jackson National Life, and New York Life...
‘Circuit Split’ over DOL Fiduciary Rule?
In my opinion, allowing IRA rollover money to escape the protections and restrictions that govern 401(k) plans will eventually nullify the federal government’s rationale for tax deferral—a benefit that...
Allianz Life’s New FIA Aims for Accumulation
'By using volatility controlled indices, we can offer higher caps,' said Matt Gray, vp of product innovation at Allianz Life. 'In such a low-rate environment, those higher caps have...
A Fintech Fix for the Small Plan Cost-Crisis
'We’re offering to clean house in a very fragmented broker market,' said Shin Inoue, CEO of ForUsAll, a turnkey 401(k) provider. Founded in 2014 by three former Financial Engines...
Homage to Andalusia
Sevilla’s residents radiated a comforting joie de vivre. That, along with the Andalusian sunshine, made my spouse and I think seriously about returning, if not retiring, to southern Spain.
Building a Personal Pension, a Month at a Time
Recent filings show that Prudential plans to launch a direct-sold, auto-pay, multi-premium fixed deferred income annuity called GIFT, or Guaranteed Income for Tomorrow.
IRI Presents its Lobbying Goals for 2018
The Insured Retirement Institute, which advocates for the interests of manufacturers and distributors of annuities on Capitol Hill, held a somewhat muted press conference this week.
Spain Looks for New Ways to Save
Spain plans to reduce the fiscal burden of its national pension by dropping cost-of-living increases. Retirees will need to offset the loss of purchasing power with other savings. But...
How to Have Enough Money for Retirement
More than 10,000 economists converged last month on Philadelphia (where Ben Franklin's bronze likeness idles on a bench on the Penn campus) for the American Economic Association's annual meeting....
Not All 401(k)s are Created Equal; Should They Be?
Teresa Ghilarducci's proposal for mandatory U.S. retirement plans is no more radical than changes proposed overseas.
Why Bruce Springsteen Is America’s Most-Likely Income Annuity Buyer
Cannex, the Canadian-American annuity data shop, has just released its analysis of 2017 sales of immediate and deferred income annuities. It turns out New Jersey-ites buy the most income...
A ‘Blueprint’ to Sell Income Annuities Direct
Abaris Financial, founded in 2014 to market SPIAs, DIAs and QLACs online, has rebooted itself as Blueprint Income. It hopes to sell single-premium immediate and deferred annuities as well...
Flat Rich: How Airbnb Saved the Quinteros’ Retirement
How a family in Seville, Spain, fixed their retirement income shortfall by investing in two Airbnb apartments in Barrio Santa Cruz, a magnet for lovers and other tourists.
