Income

AXA and ING are in the process of launching a new generation of retirement products. Money Management reports that the two companies are developing a new line of retirement income products that provide more flexibility than traditional annuities. The products, which include AXA's "North" product line, are essentially traditional investments with an underlying safety net that is created through a hedging program. "Unlike old-style annuities, the client can withdraw from the product at any time (...

A recent article on retirement planning discusses the profound impact that health events can have on retiree assets. A retirement income study by the National Bureau of Economic Research indicates that the association between health and retirement assets is "striking:" People in the bottom 20 percent of the population in terms of their health had median assets only half those of people in the top 20 percent when the research period began in 1994. When it ended 12 years later, the least-healthy...

Findings from a recent Gallup poll suggest that annuity ownership in the United States is dominated by middle-income households and individuals. Eighty percent of annuity owners have income of less than $100,000, while only four percent of annuity owning households have incomes in excess of $200,000. Other poll findings include: Almost half of the respondents have household income less than $50,000. Seven out of ten annuity owners are retired. The average age of annuity owners is 70. Women...