Genworth’s “Medically Underwritten” SPIA Offers Higher Payouts
People ages 70 to 95 who are about to enter care can receive monthly payments that are 20% to 50% higher than payments from a comparable conventional life-contingent single premium immediate annuity,...
View ArticleMobile Imperative Drives TIAA Re-Branding
“We approached the design challenge as if the only interface we had was the mobile phone, and then we worked back to design the other channels,” said Ed Moslander, head of TIAA institutional...
View Article‘Stretch match’ is the key to higher DC savings: LIMRA
LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute noted that a 100% match of the first 3% of savings tends to promote savings rates of 6%, but a 50% match of the first 6% tends to promote savings rates of 9%. Both...
View ArticleIndexed annuities post new sales records in 2015
Total annuity sales improved for the third consecutive quarter, driven by strong fixed annuity results. In fourth quarter, annuity sales were $61.4 billion, 5% higher than the prior year. In 2015...
View ArticleDecline in tax withholdings bodes ill for economy: TrimTabs
Withholdings fell 0.2% year-over-year in real terms in the past four weeks ended Thursday, February 18, TrimTabs found. This decline compares with growth of 2.0% year-over-year in December and 3.0%...
View ArticleJackson and Morningstar partner on tax demonstration tool
This tool is available for wholesalers and advisors, and supported by Jackson’s Advanced Strategies team, a group of senior portfolio strategists and retirement and wealth strategy consultants who...
View ArticleHere’s how the Jetsons might save for retirement
"FutureJet," a video game produced by MassMutual that aims to enliven the retirement savings message, is available as a free download from the Apple App Store and the Google app store.
View ArticleFinancial / Retirement Planning Software Directory
See the detail on financial planning software including vendors, scopes, costs, and contacts.
View ArticleSocial Security Maximizer
The Social Security Maximizer is an integral tool for a retirement planner's comprehensive financial planning calculations.
View ArticleAdvisors: How to Outsmart the Smartphone
The shorthand message to registered investment advisors at the Technology Tools for Today (T3) conference in chilly Fort Lauderdale this week: Don't end up as a Yellow Cab in an Uber world.
View ArticleInsurance U. Becomes Retirement U.
Conceived by Solomon Huebner (pictured in the 1950s) to give life insurance salesmen a professional gloss, The American College has, with money from New York Life, become Retirement Income U. Its RICP...
View ArticleWhat Social Media Can Teach Retirement Marketers
Target marketers, the word "retirement" is a buzzkill. That's what sociologists at research startup MotivIndex concluded after studying Facebook threads, Instagram feeds, and LinkedIn posts.
View ArticleScaling Retirement Solutions
At the EDHEC Risk Institute in France, financial researchers are trying to figure out how advisors can leverage technology to "mass customize" the goal-based approach to retirement income planning. It...
View ArticleMission Improbable
Economist Teresa Ghilarducci of The New School wants a national, mandatory retirement savings plan to complement Social Security--and to replace the ERISA-regulated 401(k) system. I agree that the...
View ArticleThe Old Folks are Alright (More or Less)
The Society of Actuaries has published the results of focus groups and interviews with middle-class older retirees. Despite little planning, most people seem to muddle through 'reasonably well.'
View ArticleETFs suffer outflows for first time in over two years
'ETFs bled $1.8 billion in January flows. Combined with poor market returns, that led to a 4.7% drop in assets. The vehicle still maintained more than $2 trillion in total assets, however,' according...
View ArticleGroup annuity risk transfer sales top $14 billion in 2015: LIMRA
In the fourth quarter, group annuity risk transfer sales were $5.8 billion or almost 19% lower than the previous year. Total assets of buy-out products increased 10%, to $90 billion at the end of the...
View ArticleMassMutual pays $165 million for MetLife’s captive agent force and retail...
On a combined basis, MSI and MassMutual’s existing broker-dealer, MML Investors Services, LLC, will be among the nation’s largest insurance company-owned broker-dealers.
View ArticleJob anemia puts interest rate hikes into doubt: TrimTabs
“The labor market is not nearly as robust as the conventional wisdom believes,” said David Santschi, chief executive officer of TrimTabs.
View ArticleHonorable Mention
Brief or late-breaking items from Vanguard, Morningstar, PIMCO, Allianz Life and Retirement Clearinghouse.
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