It’s No Joke: The Fed’s Comic Book is Wrong

The educational comic book from the New York Fed means well but perpetuates the myth that money was created in the private sector to facilitate barter and enabled commerce to flourish. History shows otherwise.
The Logic of Annuities

To Defer or Not To Defer (SPIA or DIA)?

By George A. (Sandy) Mackenzie
A deferred income annuity (DA) is cheaper than an immediate income annuity (IA), but an IA generates more income than a comparable risk-free investment, writes our guest columnist, the first editor of the Journal of Retirement and a former International Monetary Fund official.

Top earners in US own mid-sized businesses

By Editorial Staff
Among the top 0.1% Americans in terms of income, business owners are well-represented. They frequently own small or mid-sized companies such as auto dealerships, beverage distributors, or large law firms.
On the Lookout

Wages are rising, but so is productivity

By Stephen Slifer
'Consumer debt in relation to income remains low. Interest rates remain low and the Fed has now ceased its series of rate hikes. We anticipate GDP growth of 2.7% in 2019 after having risen 3.0% last year,' writes our guest columnist, an economist.

Honorable Mention

By Editorial Staff
Securian to offer individual annuities in the bank channel; 'Bucketing' software, by subscription, for professionals and amateurs; Loans from 401(k)s still declining: T. Rowe Price.

COVER STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

April 25, 2019

Annuities that Pay Cash Back Rewards

By Kerry Pechter
Gainbridge, a insur-tech startup, aims to sell fixed deferred and period certain income annuities online. Its sister company, Relay, uses annuities to fund cash back rewards cards. Both firms are part of Group1001 (formerly...
April 19, 2019

New Research on 401K Plans, from Top Researchers

By Kerry Pechter
Boston College, DCIIA and Morningstar provide new research on Britain's 'NEST' experience with auto-enrollment, custom TDFs and why replacing bad 401k investment options is a good idea.
April 11, 2019

Tell Us What You Really Think

By Kerry Pechter
At the LIMRA-Society of Actuaries Retirement Industry Conference in Baltimore last week, Scott Stolz from Raymond James, Greg Jaeck from Edward Jones and Jarrod Fisher from Simplicity Financial Distributors delivered frank opinions about annuities...