Annuity News

A recent report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute reveals that the average long-term 401k balance decreased 24% in 2008. This figure includes contributions from both employer and employees. In addition, the losses are worse (30.5%) for accounts that were created more recently. The report also addresses the amount of time it could take for account balances to recover to beginning of 2008 levels. At lower assumed levels of equity market returns, the...

There is a very good article in Investment News about retirement planning and, more specifically, devising appropriate withdrawal and income strategies in retirement. The author discusses the nature of various income requirements and makes the entirely appropriate point that all income needs are not created equal. For example, travel desires obviously differ from essentials such as food and shelter. There are also different inflationary characteristics that need to be taken into account. Health...

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...

In a Bloomberg report scientists predict that half of the babies born today in rich or developed countries will live until age 100. Life expectancy has increased by 30 years over the past century in the same developed countries, and researchers do not see longevity limits on the immediate horizon. The increasing longevity carries some potential downsides as countries struggle to finance the increasingly long duration of retirement: The aging of society has left nations struggling with how to...