If It Ain’t Fixed Indexed, It’s Broken

By Kerry Pechter
Fixed indexed annuities remain a niche product, representing only about 10% of annuity sales. But that the niche has grown into an almost $50 billion-a-year business. Sales of FIAs have grown especially fast at independent broker-dealers since 2013.

Annuities and the Charles Schwab Deal

By Kerry Pechter
Most of the annuities now on the Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade platforms are offered by mutual or foreign-owned life insurers. Lincoln Financial is the sole exception.

Marshmallows and Social Security

By Kerry Pechter
Should US retirees delay claiming Social Security until age 70, even if they have to spend savings until then? The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College proposes that strategy as a default option in retirement plans.
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Is It Time to End Tax Deferral?

By Kerry Pechter
This strikes me as the issue at the heart of the controversy over the Department of Labor's conflict-of-interests proposal—the issue we duck and dodge, while pretending that it’s all about “advice.”

FINRA Sides with Brokers against DOL Proposal

By Kerry Pechter
As it stands, the “fractured approach" of the Department of Labor conflict-of-interest proposal "will confuse retirement investors, financial institutions, and advisers,” wrote FINRA executive Marcia Asquith in a comment on the DOL/EBSA website.
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