Baby boomers are turning to immediate annuities as a safe haven, according to CNNMoney.com.
"We are getting some CD money and some that would be going into the stock market," the site quotes Chris Blunt, a senior vice president at New York Life Insurance Co. "You have a whole bunch of people whose portfolios are 30% underwater, and who find it difficult to envision how they will meet their goals."
Standard and Poor's said Monday that it expects to cut several life insurers' credit ratings to negative in the next six months. The agency currently has a stable outlook for about 70 percent of insurers. The Dow Jones Life Insurance Index has fallen 11.9 percent this month and almost 57 percent in the last 12 months.
