What tends to be forgotten, or at least not mentioned or emphasized, is that in order to purchase an annuity for the income desired, a sum of money has to be removed from the portfolio to do that. What is the income cash flow from that sum of money in the first place before such […]
You’ve probably got a dinner invitation in your mail. Free dinners are popular marketing ploys. “The hook” is the free meal. You bite. The salesperson reels you in with a compelling presentation. They land you when you buy what they’re pitching. No surprise – typically it’s an annuity. Why typically? Because they have high commissions, […]
When do you claim your Social Security when you want to retire (stop working) at age 60? Or 58? Or some other age before 70? 62 is the earliest you can claim your benefit (reduced), and age 70 is the latest you should claim because that’s the age the benefit is maximized. Your stop working age […]
Markets are getting long in the tooth. People are concerned a correction is due since a correction historically has typically happened by now. Thus, nervous people remembering 2008, seek some way to protect their savings. One of those ways has been through an annuity of some kind issued by an insurance company. What people need […]
I can’t write this any better than Michael Kitces, so here’s his quote about the article by Helaine Olen linked to below. “Toss Your Budget. Why a pillar of personal finance isn’t nearly as essential as we think.” Quote: Toss Your Budget (Helaine Olen, Slate) – Despite the ‘conventional wisdom’ of budgets, a recent Gallup poll found […]
Retirement income management boils down to basically two schools of thought … Probability Based School and the Safety First School. Wade Pfau has a summary on his blog, and I’ve written on the comparisons as well. Wade is an advocate of the Safety First School in general while I’m an advocate of the Probability Based […]
Most people mentally picture getting to, and then through, retirement as a straightforward and linear path. Of course, that is desirable. But is this a realistic expectation? Some advisers may suggest the top path is possible by emphasizing “safety first.” This comes from Social Security and/or a pension (if you have one like your grandparents had). […]
Michael Kitces does an excellent job summarizing what I’ve said for a long time in his article Can Variable Annuities Really Offer Insurance Guarantees Against A Market Catastrophe? | Kitces.com. Everyone participates in the same markets and Fama/French, two well know academics to the investing world, find no evidence that anyone has consistently (year in and year […]
When you read or hear about a Pension Plan being underfunded, what does that mean? It means they don’t have enough assets to cover their liabilities. Assets are the pension plans investments. Liabilities are the payments to retirees. Underfunding is a wide spread problem today according to this study cited in Financial Advisor Magazine. So what […]
I always marvel at a good writers’ ability to digest a complex topic down to its’ essence! Robert Powell did just this in his article titled When are income annuities right for you? Rather than steal his thunder, I recommend you read his article for yourself. Source: Robert Powell’s Retirement Portfolio (Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch) Sept. 7, 2013, 6:00 […]
