Annuity News

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to a two year "stay" on SEC Rule 151A. SEC Rule 151A is a contentious rule that, from a regulation standpoint, would treat fixed indexed annuities as securities rather than insurance products. The securities regulation would be under FINRA oversight. The stay basically postpones the rule's proposed January 12, 2011 effective date for a period of two years. Source: Wall Street Journal Full Story

The Senate introduced a piece of legislation that would require retirement plan sponsors to provide plan participants with estimates of how much income their accounts will generate in retirement. The majority of Americans approach retirement without a basic financial plan and with resources that are not sufficient for support of pre-retirement spending and lifestyles. The Lifetime Income Disclosure Act would provide Americans with a clear picture of the income-producing potential of their...

Is a nasty inflation brewing or is the U.S. facing a prolonged deflationary period similar to what Japan has experienced for the past twenty years? Billions of dollars and major public policy decisions are currently positioned for both scenarios. The need for further deficit spending and low interest rates is advocated by Paul Krugman's "Phantom Menace" comments and a recent piece by Teresa Ghilarducci . The inflation is imminent camp is represented by gold bug and hedge funds that are building...

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 has a provision that will allow for tax free long-term care payments from an annuity product. The law will also allow for Section 1035 Exchanges of older annuity products into the new hybrids. The combined or "hybrid" product has been in development within insurance companies over the past several years. The anticipated launch date for these new products is January 1 2010--the date that the provision in the Pension Protection Act is intended to go into effect...