Brantley Whitley 
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-Is Your Actively Managed Fund just an indexed fund in disguise?
-Private Equity gets a boost in advertising?
-Do Millionaires Read your Blog?
-The Retirement Boondoggle–Who's Really Messing it Up?
For a while, Brandon and I have been discussing the coming 401k bond blood bath for people who are retiring and have been planning for years to shift their asset allocation to a much more conservative posture. Remember when the conventional wisdom was that during your retirement years you would shift the weighting of your investment portfolio to income producing assets…think bonds.
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– Americans tell us, “We Need Your Help” but are they willing to pay the price
– The 401k plan is having a rough year
– State of California tries to put the brakes on LTCi rate increases
– LIAM (Life Insurance Awareness Month) is over–Was it a success?
Late breaking news this afternoon from Daily Finance reports that earlier today, Prudential has reached an agreement to purchase the individual life business of the Hartford. Now, we've all known for months that Hartford has been searching for buyers of its various units. Back in August, Woodbury Financial, the Hartford's broker-dealer was purchased by AIG for a bit over the $100 million mark. The press release reported these details regarding the agreement reached between Prudential and the Hartford:
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– Prudential says, “We don't want your money!”
– Ben Bernanke is killing the life insurance industry…maybe.
– The biggest tax increase in American history is less than 100 days away
– A market research firm tries to answer, “What do the mass affluent expect from their advisors?”
First, I feel like I should explain what I mean when I sub-titled this post a “view evolved from evil to truth”. It really goes back more than a decade when I was first “quietly” recruited and subsequently “trained” by one of the big Blue mutual insurers.
Keep in mind in those early days of my life insurance career, the only thing I knew was that there were basically three types of life insurance available—term life, whole life, and universal life insurance. And I only knew that because I’d endured the pre-licensing classes and passed the licensing exam.
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– The American College and the FPA are brawling–why?
– Indexed Annuity sales are through the roof despite the naysayers
– What's the point of the SEC anyway?
– Northwestern Mutual discovers that Americans actually LIKE life insurance…surprise!
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– Individual Life Insurance Sales are up so far 2012
– The NAIC approves Principle Based Reserves but nobody's talking about it
– A wayward advisor shows us his ignorance of cash value life insurance
– Mass Mutual buys Hartford's Retirement Plan Unit
Now don't get too excited, I didn't say that Americans like life insurance “agents.”
If you’ve ever been in the life insurance industry or are currently in the industry there’s no doubt you’ve taken jabs about being a life insurance agent.
Some polling data I saw years ago placed life insurance agents among the least “respected” professions in the country—only being edged out by used car sales people and personal injury attorneys if I remember correctly.
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– Aviva Life USA–For Sale !
– MarketWatch Gets it Wrong on a Life Insurance Recommendation
– The Quiet Company makes another “Not So Quiet” investment
