Insurance

The financial crisis has had an enormous impact on the financial plans of millions of people around the world. The savings of millions of retirees and near retirees have taken a huge hit at the worst possible time. This message has become fairly ubiquitous in the financial media. However, the message that has not been as clear involves longevity risk . The reality is that average lifespans are headed in the opposite direction from the levels of saving required to fund those golden years...

There is a very good article in the New York Times on long-term care insurance. The article is largely in a question and answer format. It is non-technical and there are many comments and questions from readers that should prove very useful to anyone taking a look at long-term care insurance products for themselves or for a family member. There are good, basic questions such as "why should I buy long-term care insurance" and "don't Medicare and Medicaid cover long-term care?" Long-term care...

Employers who offer 401k plans seem intrigued by the notion of providing an annuity option to employees who participate in the plans. Recent stock market volatility makes the prospect of stable, guaranteed income very attractive in theory: Given the stock market’s volatility, Silgan is one of a number of 401(k) plan sponsors seriously discussing adding an annuity option to their 401(k) plans. With most employees’ 401(k) accounts decimated, the idea of providing guaranteed post-...

A House bill introduced by Representative Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., would affect the tax treatment of certain annuities and income from IRAs. H.R. 2748, the Retirement Security Needs Lifetime Pay Act, would create a tax exemption for 50% of the income drawn from a non-qualified annuity. The exemption would be capped at $10,000 per year. The bill would also create a 25% tax exemption for income payments from an individual retirement account (IRA). Last, the bill would exclude the value of longevity...