Our Weight: It’s Gaining On Us
Since the late 1980s, America’s average Body Mass Index, or BMI, has been climbing rapidly. As a result, we’re losing life expectancy relative to people in other rich countries.
NY Times Plays ‘Gotcha’ with Prudential
News Commentary: Last Saturday, the Times pilloried Prudential for blocking new contributions from existing contract owners to closed VA contracts with rich income riders. But the Times isn't entirely...
Why Equity Averages are So High
In the face of a mass exodus to bonds, buybacks and dividends explain the health of the major stock indices, Goldman Sachs' David Kostin told Insured Retirement Institute members...
How to Maximize Social Security Income
With hundreds of potential strategies, it’s tough for couples to figure out the optimal age for each to claim Social Security. A software maker wants to help you do...
Bernanke, Equities and the November Election
In the course of his address, whose meaning was as usual camouflaged in Fed-jargon and stippled with acronyms, Bernanke more or less assured the markets that his motto remains,...
A Time to Laugh, or Cry
Just in time for the Insured Retirement Institute annual meeting in San Diego September 9-11, LIMRA and Morningstar have released their first-half variable annuity sales reports.
What Happened to the ‘Auto-IRA’?
Mark Iwry (pictured), an assistant Treasury Secretary, came into the current administration with hopes of making the "Automatic IRA," a workplace savings plan for people without a plan, a...
The NEST Approach to Risk
“We know that there’s no free lunch and that you have to take a certain amount of risk. But we don’t want to do anything stupid,” said the head...
Is There an Annuity-Life Insurance Arb Opportunity?
Can you use unneeded annuity assets or annuitized income to buy life insurance and create a tax-free bequest? Sure. Does it make sense for the client? Only under certain...
A New NEST for British Nest-Eggs
This is the first part of a two-part article on Britain’s ambitious national defined contribution fund for undersavers, a "public option" called the National Employment Savings Trust, or NEST.
Weighing the Value of a Variable Annuity
A VA lifetime withdrawal benefit—especially one with a 'ratchet'—can provide the upside potential and downside protection that many Boomers want in retirement, say researchers Petra Steinorth and Olivia Mitchell....
Webinar: Retirement Income with Dividends and Interest
In this 52-minute webinar, Mitchell Keil of Integrity Financial Advisory demonstrates the use of Manish Malhotra's (pictured) Income Discovery software to model the creation of a retirement income stream...
New York Life Remixes the Variable Annuity
You've heard of New York Life's Guaranteed Future Income, where clients pay today for lifetime income several years from now. A new NYL product, Income Plus, also locks in...
Float Through Retirement on a CDA
Contingent deferred annuities (CDAs) are income guarantees for managed accounts. Their biggest regulatory hurdle may have been cleared last February, when an NAIC committee agreed that CDAs are annuities...
How to Become a ‘Doctor’ of Retirement Income
Several certification programs—some new, some well-established—can show you how to become an expert in retirement income planning. We looked closely at the following certification programs and feel confident in...
The Black Box of 401(k) Expenses
The experts--Louis Harvey of Dalbar, Mike Alfred of Brightscope, David Witz of PlanTools, Phil Chiricotti of CFDD, Jonathan Leidy, CFP, and Tussey v. ABB attorney Jerry Schlichter--talk about what...
How Retirement Advisors Get Paid
Are yesterday’s compensation practices preventing you from becoming the retirement income advisor of tomorrow? Here’s how some advisors have adapted to a brave new world.
Searching for an Oasis
This roundup of investment flow reports from Beacon Research, Strategic Insight, Morningstar and the Insured Retirement Institute suggests that investors are looking for shelter from an economic sandstorm in...
What’s Good for General Motors…
A month after Ford’s pension buyout offer, GM is offering some salaried retirees a choice of a lump sum buyout or lifetime income from Prudential. Both automakers took advantage...
No Fluke: Income Annuity Sales are for Real
Sales of income annuities may soon breach the $10 billion-a-year barrier. We talked to the Numbers 2 through 5 SPIA sellers in the U.S.: MetLife, MassMutual, Pacific Life (whose...
