Taiwan Grapples With Retirement Finance
Over lunch in Taipei, economist Jack Wu explained the pension dynamics of an aging society.
Unsolved Mystery
In Matt Greenwald's "mystery shopper" experiment, near-retirement couples met with eight financial advisors to find out if they would recommend income annuities. None did.
In the ‘Green Zone’ with Jim Otar
The Toronto engineer-turned-advisor has self-published an exhaustive new book and launched a refined version of his Retirement Optimizer software.
‘Old People with Attitude and Expectations’
Boomers hope for a long and feisty retirement. But at the Longevity 5 conference in Manhattan last month, experts saw global aging as a threat almost as great as global warming.
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Gray Zone Strategies
"If you are in the gray zone, be very leery about any strategy that does not involve some form of annuities," Otar writes.
Neapolitan Annuity
Hartford Life’s new Personal Retirement Manager is three products in one. It bundles a deferred income annuity with a variable investment and a fixed return account.
News
Fed To Review Compensation at Banks—Confidentially
The Fed intends to cut executive pay at bailout recipients Citigroup, Bank of America, the American International Group, General Motors and Chrysler.
Labor Secretary Links Health Care Reform, Retirement Security
“My own father, who had a stroke last year, has seen his prescription drug costs skyrocket," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.
Life Insurance and Annuities Excluded from CFPA Jurisdiction
The Insured Retirement Institute testified that given the current regulatory protections, adding another layer of regulation to the insurance industry is unnecessary.
It’s the Year of the Un-COLA for Social Security
Last year, by contrast, beneficiaries received a 5.8% COLA, as spiking gas prices triggered the largest increase since 1982.
One-Third of Health Care Spending Wasted
“By attacking waste, health care costs can be reduced without adversely affecting the quality of care or access to care,” said Robert Kelley of Thomson Reuters.
