As the next Ways & Means chairman, the liberal Massachusetts congressman won't just be the gatekeeper of retirement legislation. He’s also the only legislator who can ask for President Trump’s tax returns. Bills that could release a wave of 401(k) innovation are pending, so the stakes for the retirement industry are high.

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 (Photo: Former FBI director James Comey, the keynote speaker at the conference).

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 can wait 10 years for the first check.