Zombie 401(k) Accounts
Who ya gonna call when former participants disappear, but their retirement accounts remain undead and their checks ($735,000, in one case) go uncashed?
Closer to Where You Belong
Whither the variable annuity business? We asked Bruce Ferris of Prudential, Liz Forget of MetLife, Eric Henderson of Nationwide Financial, Dan Herr of Lincoln Financial Group, Richard Moran, formerly...
The Upside of Falling Bond Prices
Don't worry, be happy. Maine actuary Joe Tomlinson, writing at AdvisorPerspectives.com, argued that retirees who intend to take systematic withdrawals from a bond fund over a long period will...
The Future of Variable Annuities
Ken Mungan and Casey Malone of Milliman, Chad Slawner and Guillaume de Gantes of McKinsey, Tim Paris of Ruark Consulting, Jerry Golden and Moshe Milevsky share their visions of...
Where to Get Old Variable Annuities Appraised
Advisor Mark Cortazzo’s new business, Annuity Review, is aimed at alerting VA owners to the hidden value in contracts that they might otherwise surrender or misuse.
Anatomy of AXA’s New VA Buy-Back Offer
The carrying costs of its VA riders are hurting AXA Equitable’s bottom line. A new GMIB rider buy-back offer is intended to reduce those costs. But will contract owners...
Deficient Frontier
A forthcoming research article suggests that the concept of the efficient frontier should be replaced—and in practice is often replaced by planners—by the more flexible concept of the 'efficient...
The Borzi Ballet
In this 3-min. video, Assistant Sec. of Labor Phyllis Borzi responds to IRI CEO Cathy Weatherford's question about Borzi's anticipated re-proposal of a "fiduciary rule" for retirement plan advisors....
Don’t Call Them Investments
It’s not rational self-interest that makes retirees avoid life annuities. It’s how we ‘frame’ life annuities that puts them at a disadvantage.
Sign of the Times
A 'grey market' phenomenon in more ways than one, Airbnb’s lodging website allows Boomers and others to boost their retirement incomes and, conversely, to afford their dreams of retirement...
A DIA with Dividends
The distinctive aspect of Northwestern Mutual's Select Portfolio deferred income annuity is that the contract owner can earn income-enhancing, inflation-protecting dividends over the life of the contract. (Photo: Northwestern...
The Efficient Frontier for SPIAs
Traditionally, planners like income annuities as much as Sky Masterson likes church bingo. Wade Pfau’s ability to draw a crowd at the “Paris” resort may have been a leading...
The FIA ‘Loophole’
At the Society of Actuaries Life & Annuity Symposium in Toronto this week, the invasion of the fixed indexed annuity market by private equity firms was of keen interest....
Buenos DIAs
It’s morning in America for manufacturers of deferred income annuities, or DIAs. Are they a passing fancy, or do they offer the perfect balance between risk and reward?
Beware of Pension-Buying Funds
Pension-buyout deals, which rip off veterans and others with certain types of pensions, are often financed by investors who are looking for higher yields on their savings. Don't let...
Roll Over, Rollovers: ‘Roll-Ins’ Have Arrived
Retirement Clearinghouse (formerly RolloverSystems) CEO Spencer Williams wants people to consolidate (roll in) their retirement accounts in their current 401(k)s. It would mean fewer ‘stranded’ retirement accounts and less...
A Man of Conviction
How did Matthew Hutcheson, once a poster boy for fiduciary rectitude, turn into the wanted-poster man for fiduciary misconduct? But his ill-fated deal for the Osprey Meadows golf course...
Dialing the Right Withdrawal Rate
The 4% withdrawal rate (adjusted annually for inflation) is the basic chassis that advisor/researcher Michael Kitces builds his income strategies on. But that's just the beginning.
Obama’s Budget Too Austere for Retirement Industry
There’s outrage and indignation over the administration’s call for a $3 million cap on lifetime accumulations in tax-favored accounts, but only a tiny number of accounts would be affected.
Pick and Roll(over)
Hundreds of TV ads for financial services have appeared during the 2013 NCAA men's basketball tournament so far. None was an absolute slam dunk, but all were good. Read...
