The new tool, developed with CapitalRock, gathers key information from clients about their income, liquidity, time horizon, risk tolerance, expenses, and guarantees, and finds the appropriate variable annuity.

The average age of new grandmothers is 50 and the average age of new grandfathers is 54. Grandmothers outnumber grandfathers by a ratio of 5:4.

Starting as early as age 40, the lifetime payout percentage increases by 35 basis points for every year the client delays income. There's also a 50% bonus on the interest credited every year during the accumulation period and, optionally, during the income period.

Here’s an edited version of an analysis of the new agreement on deficit and debt reduction by Robert Greenstein, president of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

During the July 26 hearing on the DoL plan, Phil Roe (R-TN), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions described the department’s proposal to strengthen the fiduciary standard as “ill-conceived."

Brief or late-breaking items from New York Life, MetLife, Lincoln Financial Group, Still River, Huntington Funds, Weiss Ratings, MassMutual, Fidelity, and Cerulli Associates.

The donnybrook in Congress over debt and deficits stemmed partly from a mistaken belief that the government is like a player in a card game when it's actually more like a scorekeeper. Warren Mosler explains.

Americans used to help their government by buying government bonds. I think we can solve our current debt problem by tearing up our government bonds!

For many Americans, the traditional idea of a comfortable retirement, filled with golf carts, cruises, and fishing trips, is going the way of the dodo bird.

AllianceBernstein's DAA fund, which aims for 60/40 performance without the tails, has been adopted as a risk-reduced investment option in AXA, MetLife, Ohio National, Sun Life, and Transamerica variable annuities. AB's Mark Hamilton (below) explains.