Investing is the activity of forecasting the yield over the life of an asset. Using Benjamin Graham’s definition, "an investment operation is one which, upon thorough analysis, promises safety of principal and an adequate return. Operations not meeting these requirements are speculative."
Insurance companies take in huge amounts of money from policyholders. Part of the purpose of an insurance company is to invest the massive amount of policyholder funds.
Much of the money is invested in bonds or fixed income, some can be invested in stocks or equities, and portions can be invested in real estate, hedge funds, venture capital, etc.
The following are a few key concepts to think about, look for, or listen to when developing a financial plan:
Information Gathering: This is one of the first steps in the financial planning process. Your financial advisor should gather quite a bit of information about you and your current financial status.
A handful of very large, powerful trends are currently shaping the retirement income landscape:
Submitted by tom on
Bloomberg reports that durations on corporate bonds are at a record high.
Submitted by tom on
The Hartford Financial Services Group has apparently sent a letter directly to annuity owners informing them of the "opportunity" to trade their older variable annuity contracts for new and repriced variable annuities.
Some industry observers consider the letter and offer self-serving at best. Apparently many of the older contracts contain the type of impossibly rich benefits that created so much of the recent trouble at the Hartford.
