How a Deferred Annuity Fits Into Retirement Income Planning
A key part of your retirement planning is having a strong income strategy that makes you feel secure. One major consideration is ensuring that you have enough money to last as long as you live. In recent years, a new type of annuity was introduced that may fit into your long-term retirement income planning strategy: […]
Annuities Language Glossary—for Consumers
The Alliance for Lifetime Income is a non-profit organization committed to educating consumers about the value and importance of protected lifetime income through annuities. Part of our commitment includes making the language of annuities simpler and more transparent. We realize that annuities, like most other financial products, can be difficult to understand, which is why […]
Using Annuities to Offer Protection When Markets Go Down
An annuity is a crucial part of a retirement portfolio. There are all types of annuities based on your needs, including ones that are popular for providing protected retirement income. You buy an annuity from an insurance company and get payouts for a set number of years or for your lifetime. But certain annuities are […]
Financial Protection: A New Asset Class For Retirement Plans
It’s time to start talking about a new asset class: financial protection. “If you’re not considering types of investment products that fall into the financial protection asset class, you may be missing the opportunity to help improve your retirement plan for future success,” says Michael R. Harris, a senior educational advisor with the Alliance for […]
Is Buying an Annuity in a Zero Interest Rate Environment a Good Idea?
The Federal Reserve’s decision to cut its benchmark federal funds rate from 2.5% in 2019 to near-0% in 2020 raises significant questions for those reassessing their retirement nest egg—a common occurrence following a dramatic selloff in equities according to research conducted by Indiana University’s Alessandro Previtero—and the value of annuities in providing guaranteed lifetime income. […]
How to Create a Family Legacy With Annuities
If you’ve ever tucked a check into a birthday or holiday card, you probably thought about the recipient opening it, seeing the check flutter out, and thinking warmly about you. What if you could replicate that after you’ve passed away? There’s actually a little known way to use annuities to do just that. “Guess what? […]
Do You Have a Plan to Cover Healthcare Expenses in Retirement? Annuities Can Help
The total amount a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2021 can expect to spend on healthcare over their life expectancies could fall anywhere between $156,000 and $1 million, according to HealthView Services, a leader in healthcare cost projections.¹ “It sounds daunting,” says Michael R. Harris, a senior educational advisor with the Alliance for Lifetime Income who […]
Make an Annuity the Workhorse of Your IRA
An annuity with protected lifetime income can be the workhorse in your Individual Retirement Account (IRA), providing guaranteed income regardless of what happens with the markets. Anyone with an IRA has to start taking annual withdrawals, known as required minimum distributions (RMDs), from their IRA at age 72.* That’s because the account grew on a […]
The Many Benefits of Annuities Might Surprise You
Annuities date back thousands of years to the Roman Empire. In fact, the word annuity is derived from the Latin annua, meaning “annual payment”, and was used to describe the money paid to soldiers for their years of service. Benjamin Franklin included annuities for the cities of Philadelphia and Boston in his will. (The Boston […]
How to Think About a “Retirement Reset” During Times of Uncertainty
How to Think About a ‘Retirement Reset’ During Times of Uncertainty “Should you have retired earlier?” “Is this market volatility going to impact my ability to retire?” “How are the knees?” These are some of the questions Americans would ask themselves if they could look into the future as their retirement years grew closer. Perhaps […]