The world is filled with investing indexes and benchmarks, and all professional investment managers measure their results relative to some type of performance standard such as the S&P 500.

On the retirement income front, though, similar gauges of performance are virtually non-existent.  The lack of a baseline performance measure is a problem for the industry because there is no established basis for comparison of asset decumulation strategies.

As the manager of the largest bond fund in the world and a founder of PIMCO, Bill Gross is a leading authority on all things related to yield.

Since retirement finances are fundamentally about generating income from accumulated assets, retirees should care greatly about any comments and insights from Gross.  This is especially true since the world is starved for yield.

Gross regularly shares his insights through commentary on the PIMCO website.

Annuity criticisms are a dime-a-dozen. 

The majority of financial advisors seem to have some issue with annuities, consumer perception is generally terrible and the financial media often appears to provide a reflection and reinforcement of prevailing sentiment.

There is a case to be made for “control of assets” as the common denominator for both the consumer and financial advisor perspectives.

Control of assets basically refers to the fact that annuities involve handing over money to an insurance company. 

Liquidity or lack thereof tends to be a major concern when it comes to annuities.

Many financial advisors and consumers are reluctant to use annuities because money allocated to annuity products tends to be tied-up and inaccessible for a period of time.  In other words, annuities lack liquidity or are “illiquid.”

In contrast, exchange traded funds (ETF) or shares of IBM stock are highly liquid as they can almost always be easily sold for cash.   

While it might be an unusual time to provide an explanation of Swiss annuities given what has been taking place of late with the Swiss franc and related decisions made by the Swiss National Bank, it still makes sense for any financial services consumer to understand potential benefits of these products.

There is a strong case to be made for health care as the linchpin of retirement planning.  Virtually every major aspect of the retirement planning process is somehow correlated to or contingent on health status.  For example, health status has an impact on each of the following retirement planning components:

An article on indexed annuities appeared in Bloomberg yesterday (click here to read).

The article is substantive and comes from a credible source.  It is provides a good explanation of why surrender fees need to be a front-and-center consideration for any consumer considering the purchase of an annuity.

Glenn Daily is one of the top financial advisors in the country. 

Specializing in life insurance and annuities, Glenn is widely recognized for his deep technical expertise and high level of objectivity as his services are strictly on a fee-only basis.

The annuity buying decision is complex and can be affected by commission-based financial incentives. Glenn’s writing, interviews and services are a great way to cut through some of the clutter.

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.