Investment News columnist Darla Mercado wrote an interesting piece of the difficulty of making meaningful comparisons among annuities and related retirement income products.

Mercado focuses on the challenges created by the lack of benchmarks in the retirement income industry.

Unlike the investment industry where benchmarking and transparency of product features are standard, lifetime income products are opaque and complex.

One way to evaluate a pension buyout involves determining what your future pension payments are worth today and then comparing that value to the buyout offer.

In other words, compare the lump sum pension buyout offer to what would you have to pay today to buy and annuity that locks-in a future stream of income that lasts for the rest of your life.

The UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education just released an interesting research report titled “Meeting California’s Retirement Security Challenge.”

The report has an introduction written by Jacob Hacker—a Political Science professor at Yale University.

Hacker’s introduction focuses on what he refers to as the “Great Risk Shift” and is appropriately titled “The Coming Age of Retirement Insecurity.”

Meir Statman is the Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, and Visiting Professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

His research on behavioral finance has been supported by the National Science Foundation, CFA Institute, and Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA) and has been published in the Journal of Finance, Financial Analysts Journal, Journal of Portfolio Management, and many other publications.

Jody Strakosch is the National Director for MetLife’s Retirement Products Group.  In this role, Jody has a broad perspective on developments in the institutional space.  In other words, Jody is intimately familiar with how in-plan accumulation and point of retirement annuities are evolving in the defined contribution arena. 

A recent article in Bloomberg discusses the financial challenges faced by most retirees in the United States and the steps that the Obama Administration is taking to address the crisis.

The demise of defined benefit pension plans over the past thirty years correlates almost perfectly with the rise of defined contribution plans such as 401ks.

Lorry Stensrud, a seasoned executive turned entrepreneur, is on the leading-edge of retirement income product development with his new Venture Achaean Financial.

Achaean’s Income Plus+ product provides a relatively high level of guaranteed starting income while maintaining both liquidity and upside potential.

Read on for a glimpse into the most recent generation of product development in the retirement income industry.

Anna Rappaport is widely recognized as a leading expert on retirement systems, workforce issues, the impact of changing demographics and women’s retirement security.

After a successful career with Mercer Consulting, Anna founded a consulting firm that specializes in strategies for improving retirement systems.  Anna is a recipient of numerous awards and is a past President of the Society of Actuaries.