The Elephant in the Room
It's difficult if not impossible for anyone to describe the contours and textures of the annuity/retirement income business, or even any particular section of it. But fortunately there are people who try.
Have Your Danish, and Eat It Too
A novel retirement plan design, called TimePension (“Tidspension” in Danish) uses a buffer account to smooth out market volatility and ensure a stable income in retirement.
RetiremEntrepreneur: Mike Alfred
"Save like you will retire, but live like you won't," is part of Alfred's personal retirement philosophy. He is co-founder and CEO of BrightScope, the first firm to rate retirement plan quality and publish the ratings on the Internet.
It’s an Index! It’s an Income Calculator! It’s a Fund!
BlackRock’s new CoRI helps older DC plan participants find out how large an income annuity they can afford to buy at retirement—but it stops short of helping them buy one.
Featured
Seven Nominees for Our Product Innovation Award
Products from Great-West, ING-US, Midland National, New York Life, Northwestern Mutual, Sun Life of Canada and Transamerica/AEGON are in contention for the first annual "Innovation in Retirement Income Products" award from RIJ and the RIIA.
Sizing Up the DIA’s Sales Potential
With y-o-y sales growth of 150%, deferred income annuities have attracted a lot of attention. But so far the DIA phenomenon has been concentrated among mutual insurers and in the captive agent channel.
News
“I’m financially literate, but you’re not”
Over half of Americans gave themselves an A or B grade on their saving and investing knowledge, while giving the average American a grade of D, according to a survey sponsored by Genworth Financial.
‘Managed solutions’ pass $3tr in assets: MMI
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is the leader in managed solution programs with $627 billion in AUM at the end of 2Q 2013 and a 21% market share. The other top five firms are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo, UBS Financial and Charles Schwab.
One in four US households stressed by debt: Mintel
Only 48% of those surveyed think it is an achievable goal to be debt free at retirement, with only 30% stating they will be able to live comfortably in retirement.
Lufthansa permanently grounds its DB plan
CEO Peter Gerber said the airline's pension costs for domestic employees alone rose from €210m to €250m since 2011. One of the main cost drivers was the contract's guaranteed minimum interest rate of 6-7% for employees.
Symetra FIA surpasses $1 billion in sales
The Edge Pro fixed indexed annuity gives clients the choice of two index options: the S&P 500 Index and the S&P GSCI Excess Return Index.
