Income

AARP has published a tip sheet called Money Matters that offers advice on spending down one's assets in retirement. The tip sheet addresses a number of areas, including: When to claim Social Security . Asset Allocation . Annuities. Withdrawal rates. The role of one's home in retirement planning . For each topic, AARP offers a description of common or current practices, conventional wisdom and their general guidance. With respect to annuities, AARP notes that most people pay very little...

The income limits on Roth IRAs will change in 2010. Current restrictions on Roth IRAs are set at $105,000 for singles and $166,000 for couples. Removal of these restrictions will open-up a much wider market for Roth IRAs. Higher income earners will simply need to establish a conventional IRA and then convert to a Roth. Taxes due on the conversion can be paid over the course of 2011 and 2012 rather than at once in 2010. Source: Investment News Full Story

Politico recently reported on the possibility of a concerted attack on the U.S. dollar which, if valid, could have a meaningful impact on annuity owners and other recipients of fixed income. The story suggests that Arab oil sheiks are conspiring with the Chinese and Russian governments to eliminate the U.S. dollar's role as the reserve currency in the global oil trade. The dollar's role in the oil trade serves as a linchpin for its relative strength and role as the world's overall reserve...

"In-Plan" annuities refer to the use of annuities within defined contribution pension programs such as 401k plans. The concept is relatively new, but the timing should be a perfect the concept to gain traction: The financial crisis has devastated the portfolios of many retirees and near-retirees. Millions of baby boomers will add to the 70 million or so U.S. residents over the age of 55. People are starving for stable, guaranteed sources of income in light of market volatility and increasing...

Putnam Investments CEO Robert Reynolds spoke about the notion of "lifetime financial product allocation" at a recent industry conference. Reynolds supports the notion of a range of products over the course of one's lifetime that include: Lifetime income options to hedge against longevity risk . Relative return strategies to hedge inflation risk . Absolute return strategies to deal with both inflation and volatility risk ( sequence of returns risk ). Reynolds offered comments on the over-...