Expenses should be a top priority for any financial services consumer.  Many people have been conditioned to be aware of expenses when it comes to investment products.  Indexed-bases investment management companies such as Vanguard have contributed greatly to this awareness by consistently demonstrating the detrimental impact that expenses have on investment performance over time, and how actively managed and more expensive mutual funds actually tend to underperform their index-based peers.

Two industry-leading consultants have published a study that compares a range of wealth management strategies that are available to individuals in retirement.

None of the strategies are dominant on an overall basis, but certain approaches show clear strengths in terms of income generation, levels of wealth, and the impact on bequest motives.

The dramatic impact of product fees is also addressed.

Six different retirement strategies are discussed:

A recent Wall Street Journal article notes that owners of variable annuities with guaranteed living benefits (GLB) have been largely immune to the fallout from the financial crisis.

"One of the best investments of the past decade was one of the most derided: the variable annuity."

The protection offered by GLBs such as the guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit is discussed.

Life-cycle investing has been around for many years.

Zvi Bodie is one of the most articulate and visible advocates.  His book "Worry Free Investing" lays-out the fundamentals and makes a case for the life-cycle approach to investing.

Bernard Winograd is an executive vice president at the Prudential Insurance Company.

Speaking at a recent industry conference, Winograd expressed his views on the existing methods of explaining retirement issues and solutions in the United States:

"The retail system in this country of explaining this (retirement) to people is deeply flawed. There are way too many people in the system without adequate training, and there are way too many people with the wrong motives."

Living benefits (also known as guaranteed living benefits) are optional guarantees that can be built into variable annuity products.  These "options" are typically added as "riders" to a variable annuity contract.  Living benefits are very powerful product features and something that should be discussed with a financial advisor whenever the conversation involves variable annuities. 

Annuities can be very effective in providing protection against market volatility.

There is a very good article on that site that discusses how owners of certain types of variable annuities have been insulated from many of the effects of the financial crisis.  That article can be found by clicking here.

Annuities are products that combine insurance and, in the case of variable annuities, asset management.  Costs are absolutely critical, so definitely ask you financial advisor to spell-out the costs for each of the items discussed below.

Certain living benefit guarantees--particularly guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits--embedded in variable annuities have provided owners with downside protection during the recent financial market turmoil.

A popular variable annuity -- the one with guaranteed “living benefits” -- may be the riskiest product ever sold by the insurance industry. Risky to the health of the insurance carriers, that is.