Long term care (LTC) is defined as the provision of help with daily activities, such as bathing, shopping, and food preparation, over an extended period of time. Most Americans recognize they will need long term care services sometime in the future, whether after a surgery or in old age. However, the vast majority of Americans [...]
Why should you buy a Fixed Index Annuity?
Many investors approaching retirement think they have no real need for annuities. However the lifetime-income guarantees offered by these insurance-company products can add security to portfolios which are mostly composed of stock and bond mutual funds. A market downturn that hits before or at the start of retirement can leave even conservative investors with far [...]
Baby Boomers 401k Dreams Go Bust
The Baby Boom generation‘s dreams continue to fade. Their home prices have been devastated to price levels first attained 6-8 years ago. This decline in value has in many cases eliminated their principal value invested in their home–historically a dominant element of retiree net worth. Simultaneously is the wake-up call of their 401k [...]
Will Your current Retirement Savings Plan Meet Your Needs?
Current and future retirees have some important advantages over people that retired even a few decades ago. Due to advances in medicine and healthier lifestyles, an individual retiring at 65 today can and should arrange for 20 or more relatively healthy years. Given very long time horizons and the proven fact that nearly all today’s [...]
Guaranteed Income for Life
Retirees who watched in horror as their account balances plunged along with the stock market now face a new challenge: how to generate enough income to pay their bills. A widely accepted rule of thumb suggests that if you hold initial withdrawals to 4% of your nest egg during the first year of retirement and [...]
Hartford Life Finds Americans More Dependent on Social Security
SIMSBURY, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Social Security is becoming increasingly important as a source of retirement income for Americans as they face a weak economic environment, high unemployment and an uncertain future, according to a new study released today by The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG). However, despite the growing dependence on Social Security, most Americans say they are [...]
LIMRA Study on Immediate Annuities
WINDSOR, Conn., Nov. 22, 2010 — Women buy six of every 10 immediate annuity contracts, according to LIMRA’s Guaranteed Income Annuities report. LIMRA examined more than 55,000 immediate annuity contracts issued in 2008 and 2009 and the people who purchased them to help companies better understand and customize their products to target specific markets and [...]
Baby boomers are facing a retirement disaster
Baby boomers are facing a retirement disaster. Insufficient savings, a lost decade of 401k returns, home values 30% under water and a job market that is difficult if you are of a certain age and need to continue to work. My blog focuses on a broad set of issues revolving around the retirement crisis in [...]
Social Security Becoming More Important | Annuity News Journal
Image by Getty Images via @daylife Hartford Financial (HIG) has released a study that shows more Americans are depending on Social Security as an important source of income in their retirement than ever before. The study shows that nearly 40% of the respondents stated that Social Security is their most important source of income, while [...]
