We would love to hear from you. Click on the ‘Contact Us’ link to the right and choose your favorite way to reach-out!

wscdsdc

media/speaking contact

Jamie Johnson

business contact

Victoria Peterson

Contact Us

855.ask.wink

Close [x]
pattern

Industry News

Categories

  • Industry Articles (21,155)
  • Industry Conferences (2)
  • Industry Job Openings (35)
  • Moore on the Market (414)
  • Negative Media (144)
  • Positive Media (73)
  • Sheryl's Articles (800)
  • Wink's Articles (353)
  • Wink's Inside Story (274)
  • Wink's Press Releases (123)
  • Blog Archives

  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • August 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • May 2008
  • February 2008
  • August 2006
  • Yellen about fees on indexed annuities

    May 20, 2014 by Kevin Startt

    A recent Forbes article, Why 401(k)s have failed, once again put the onus on fees being the culprit for participant under-performance in these plans. You would think we have a retirement crisis because of payola in these plans. It is also strange that this popular publication, one that even I admire, publishes the Forbes Honor Roll of Mutual Funds once a year made up of predominately loaded funds, including some of the most popular options in (k) plans.

    You can imagine the uproar that is coming if the Department of Labor (DOL) promotes the inclusion of evil fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) as a plan option. These increasingly popular savings vehicles combine some of the benefits of participation in the capital markets with a pension-like income that cannot be outlived and is guaranteed by an insurance company.

    I am reminded that former fed chairman Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan have owned these annuities in the past. I am not sure current fed chair Janet Yellen owns dreaded FIAs, but, like Yellen, I am going to start every sentence off with, “So,” to justify why the DOL’s move is a prudent one.

    1. So no one complained about the dominant leg in the retirement stool — pensions, when there were 140,000 pension plans in 1980 with excessive costs but a lifetime income benefit. So unlike pension plans, which did not include an accelerator for illness, unemployment, etc., many indexed annuities do include this feature, which most companies do not offer before or after retirement. So this would immediately benefit retirees who don’t have a long-term care policy.

    2. So small businesses, which represent 70 percent of the businesses in America, cannot afford the luxury of a Mercer, Watson Wyatt or a Callan to offer consulting services. Small business owners face an inherent bias as do their employees in the performance of their plans. In addition, increasing regulation in the administration of these plans, albeit needed, could not come at a worse time for small businesses. So, indexed annuities, with a lifetime income benefit, would provide an inherent cost of living hedge to retirees that traditional fixed annuities do not offer, as well as a pension — like income that also can keep up with the rising cost of retiring through roll-ups or CPI riders.

    3. So if Social Security can survive for 80 years invested in treasuries with increasing morbidity and mortality, and pricing that originated in the rosy demographics of 1935 when there were 40 contributors for every beneficiary, let insurance companies price personal pensions the way they have been doing successfully for hundreds of years. So they could invest in treasuries and corporate bonds, and earn 2 percent to 4 percent more than the Social Security trust fund and price their products on the basis of today’s demographics.

    Finally, Janet Yellen graduated from Yale in 1971. I am reminded of a university student who was visiting relatives in Boston over the holidays. He went to a large party and met Janet Yellen. He started the conversation with the line, “Where does you go to school?” Yellen was not overly impressed with his grammar, but she did answer his question. “Yale,” she said. The university linebacker took a big, deep breath and yelled loudly, “Where does you go to school?”

    So, maybe we should all go back to school, including Forbes with the supposed failure of the grand experiment called 401(k), and consider indexed annuities as a viable retirement plan option before Janet Yellen and the federal government have to bail out the plan participants in these plans — who are far short of the funds needed for retirement.

    Originally Posted at ProducersWeb on May 19, 2014 by Kevin Startt.

    Categories: Industry Articles
    currency