Annuity

An annuity comes in many forms, but a simple definition is that an annuity is a contract that converts a sum of money into a series of periodic payments for an agreed upon period of time. An annuity can be thought of as a financial vehicle that converts a pool of money into a stream of income. Annuities are most useful in addressing the financial planning needs of people in or approaching retirement. Annuities are unique in the financial world because they can provide protection against the risk or outliving one’s assets (longevity risk) by guaranteeing income payments in perpetuity or any other selected amount of time. Annuities can be viewed as a type of personal pension plan. Social Security is similar to an annuity in that money contributed over the course of one’s working years is converted into a series of periodic payments that provide income during retirement.

Slow and Steady at SunAmerica Proving Variable Annuity Business Not as Bad as it Seems

Despite a barrage of negative press, it appears that SunAmerica ’s measured approach to the variable annuity business is demonstrating that the successful production of variable annuities is similar to most other lines of insurance . The Hartford ’s recent decision to exit the variable annuity business entirely is attributable in part to their management’s (under significant shareholder pressure) view that the VA business is capital intensive and has relatively unattractive...

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The Best Time to Buy an Annuity Depends on Mortality

A basic life annuity makes payments when the annuity owner is alive.

In this sense, an annuity is the reverse of...

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Why Financial De-Risking May Leave Consumers at a Loss

The term de-risk has been appearing frequently in recent financial news.

General Motors’ recent decision to offer lump-sum...

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Maddy Dychtwald on How Women are Driving a Transformation of the Market for Financial Advice and Products

Maddy Dychtwald is a nationally recognized author, co-founder of Age Wave, and a leading expert on the changing demographic trends shaping the marketplace, the workplace and our lives.

Having spent twenty-five years exploring and forecasting lifestyle, marketing and retirement implications of the age wave, she has recently emerged as a renowned authority on the economic ascent of women, including its impact on the financial services industry.

Age Wave’s breakthrough research on women and money includes the recent research study A New Era of Women and...

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Mark Warshawsky on the Retirement Income Market

Mark J. Warshawsky is Director of Retirement Research at Towers Watson.

Dr. Warshawsky served as assistant secretary for economic policy at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2004-2006 and he has held senior level economic research positions at the Federal Reserve Board, the Internal Revenue Service and...

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