Rethinking Annuities

• 

  Top 20 Companies for Annuity Sales in 2012

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  March 21, 2013

  Total sales of annuity products reached $219 billion in 2012—the lowest level since 2005, according to LIMRA.

• 

  New Retirement Planning: The Benefits of Patience on Annuities

  By William H. Byrnes, Esq., Robert Bloink, Esq., LL.M.  |  February 25, 2013

  Creating a sustainable retirement income stream is more challenging than ever, but a Society of Actuaries study provides some room for hope, if annuity owners can be patient.

• 

  Milevsky’s VA Shocker: Turn on Your Living Benefit, Now

  By Moshe A. Milevsky  |  February 22, 2013

  Advisors ask me whether clients should “hurry up”—in light of the declining richness of GLB riders—and add money to VAs they already own, before it is too late. My answer will not be what you expected.

• 

  Are Annuities the Solution to Old 4% Retirement Rule?

  By William H. Byrnes, Esq., Robert Bloink, Esq., LL.M.  |  February 12, 2013

  For years, the 4% rule provided the baseline from which advisors launched retirement strategies, but those strategies simply aren’t cutting it any more. Enter annuities with some attractive riders.

• 

  Finke Study Warns: 4% Retirement Rule Is Dead, Long Live Annuities

  By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne  |  January 17, 2013

  A retirement income portfolio based on the popular 4% rule has a 57% chance of failure based on current returns. "The bottom line is that the current low-yield environment is a retirement income game changer," the study's co-author, Michael Finke, says.

• 

  Guaranteed Income? Not Without Risk: GAO

  By Danielle Andrus, AdvisorOne  |  January 11, 2013

  A GAO report examined variable annuities with guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits and contingent deferred annuities, as well as the regulations that cover each.

• 

  Annuities 2020: Will the Future of VAs Look Like Their Past?

  By Moshe A. Milevsky  |  December 20, 2012

  Perhaps the next step in the evolution of retirement annuities is to go back to the past. Maybe the annuity of the year 2020 pays out no cash at all, but instead offers an actual retirement service. Allow me to explain.

• 

  Warning on VAs to Advisors: Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

  By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne  |  December 10, 2012

  Glenn Daily, insurance expert and variable annuity dissenter, says the complexity of these products’ guaranteed benefits is beyond most advisors’ ability to assess.

• 

  Top 5 Annuity Trends to Watch in 2012 and 2013

  By Christopher Raham, Gerry Murtagh  |  October 2, 2012

  As the annuity industry deals with unprecedented challenges, advisors must keep abreast of product changes to help their clients make prudent decisions.