LPL's president of national sales and marketing--Bill Dwyer--spoke at a recent event centered around national retirement planning.

Dwyer's comments touched on what he considers the coming bull market with "the greatest demand ever seen" in the area of annuity advice.

Dwyer sees product innovation and consumer education as critically important areas.

The complexity of decumulation strategies and annuities are considered key drivers of the need for advisory services.

Demographics and the retiring Boomers are also key catalysts.

Source: Advisor One

Anyone have knowledge of the Australian annuity market? Specifically, what is the superannuation program and how does it impact the private annuity market?

Jan 2010 : Wondering if anyone has any experience or recommendations regarding the use of an annuity as an alternative to a 1031C exchange. The goal is to defer significant capital gain on the sale of a second home, without having to purchase another property, as is required in a 1031. Thnx.

A pretty good explanatory piece on annuities from well respected financial journalist Walter Updegrave.

Heavy focus on variable annuities and guaranteed living benefits.

The article can be viewed by clicking here.

One of the beneficial features of annuities is the potential for protection from creditors.

This discussion thread can serve as a Q&A for anything related to this issue.

One question that was presented by a site visitor is as follows:

Are "non-qualified" deferred annuities protected from creditors during bankruptcy proceedings in New York state?

Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on the effectiveness of the 4 percent rule to manage retirement spending / asset draw-downs?

A Federal appeals court recently voided Rule 151A.

Rule 151A would have treated indexed annuities as securities and would therefore have shifted responsibility for regulation of indexed annuities from state departments of insurance to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

My spouse recently left her employer and has about $200,000 in her 401K with this previous employer. A friend of ours who works for a brokerage firm spoke to us about doing either an IRA rollover or possibly investing in a variable annuity.

A recent article published by ABC News discusses the advantages of building your own annuity by using "technical computer models" to "engineer portfolios" with "a variety of bonds and stocks with the aim of allowing retirees to get the income they need in the short run while protecting their assets in the long

The term "framing" refers to the manner in which the annuity purchase decision is presented or "framed" for the consumer.

The term is from the field of behavioral economics / behavioral finance and involves natural (how we are hard-wired) psychological hurdles that impede the understanding and adoption of annuities.

There is a ton of  material on the issue.