An Algorithm That Loves Annuities
PrARI, the retirement product allocation calculator that Cannex recently acquired with its purchase of the Qwema Group, shows advisers how to maximize retirement income (or legacy) using a blend of...
View ArticleClub Vita: Where Levity Meets Longevity Risk
The cartoon characters in hazmat suits on Club Vita's website handle "toxic waste." It's a metaphor for the actuarial consultancy's real service: helping the remaining DB plans in the UK deal with...
View ArticleOf Ponies, Manure Piles, and Annuities
An article about deferred income annuities in last Saturday's New York Times looked at DIAs through the "investment frame" rather than the "insurance frame." That's the wrong way to evaluate annuities.
View ArticleVanguard issues "How America Saves 2014"
In the 13th edition of its annual statistical report, the defined contribution full-service plan provider shares information on $600 billion in over 3.5 million accounts at more than 3,000 companies.
View ArticleThe Bucket
Brief or late-breaking items from Prudential Financial, MetLife, AIG, Plumvo and Securian.
View ArticleThe Interest Rate Enigma
"The accumulation of debt and the distortions in production and investment patterns induced by persistently low interest rates hinder the return of those rates to more normal levels," write these...
View ArticleVAs’ negative cash flow exceeds $1 billion in 1Q2014
With sales of $6.4 billion, up from $5.5 billion in 4Q2013, Jackson National was the only major VA issuer whose sales grew in the first quarter, according to Morningstar.
View ArticleWith 'Daily+4,' Forethought VA gets creative
With the Daily +4, each day that the contract value reaches a new high, the withdrawal base steps up to capture the new value. At the end of the year, a 4% bonus is added to the current withdrawal...
View ArticleTotal U.S. Annuity Sales Up 13% YOY: IRI
The year-over-year sales growth was supported by continued high levels of fixed annuity sales, which totaled $22.6 billion during the first quarter, according to Beacon Research.
View ArticleFinancial / Retirement Planning Software Directory
See the detail on financial planning software including vendors, scopes, costs, and contacts.
View ArticleShort on Shares, Women Share Homes
Single, divorced and widowed older women are reducing their expenses by sharing a home or apartment with similarly situated women. A new website helps them find each other.
View ArticleAn Algorithm That Loves Annuities
PrARI, the retirement product allocation calculator that Cannex recently acquired with its purchase of the Qwema Group, shows advisers how to maximize retirement income (or legacy) using a blend of...
View ArticleClub Vita: Where Levity Meets Longevity Risk
The cartoon characters in hazmat suits on Club Vita's website handle "toxic waste." It's a metaphor for the actuarial consultancy's real service: helping the remaining DB plans in the UK deal with...
View ArticleThe Bucket
Brief or late-breaking news items from NFP Advisor Services, Prudential Financial, Northwestern Mutual, Guggenheim Securities, Allianz Life, Barclays, MetLife and Zillner.
View ArticleIs Time Running Out on the Fiduciary Proposal?
'If it takes six months for a comment period and six months for hearings, and then time to develop a final rule, by then we’re running into an election year,' Steven Saxon of Groom Law Group said at...
View ArticleRetirePreneur: Mathew Greenwald
Mathew Greenwald is the president and owner of a Washington, D.C.-based market research firm that conducts surveys for financial service providers, life insurers and investment managers.
View ArticleMerrill Lynch overcharged 41,000 small business retirement plans: FINRA
Merrill Lynch learned in 2006 that its small business retirement plan customers were overpaying, but continued to sell them more costly shares and failed to report the issue to FINRA for more than...
View ArticleSocial Security a “screamingly good” deal: Financial Engines
Yet, ironically, there’s little evidence that a majority in Congress would be amenable to the higher payroll taxes that will probably be needed to make those generous, inflation-indexed Social...
View ArticleLimit participants to three loans: TIAA-CREF
Paying off debt was cited as the top reason for borrowing from retirement plan savings (46%), yet only 26% of respondents said that paying off debt justified a loan.
View Article