As of late, it would seem that a great many people are engaged in a bit of retirement savings roulette and I’m afraid it’s not going to end well for them.
Just in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past four years or so, interest rates paid on traditional income generating retirement vehicles—i.e. CD’s, Bonds, Fixed Annuities, and Money Market Accounts is abysmal.
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A Multi-State Insurance Scam Comes to an End
Gen Y Hates Your Face
Americans Have “Pension” Envy?
Hedge Funds + Annuity = Big Freakin' Headache!
Cash value life insurance is a funny subject. I strongly admire and strongly detest this product within the American system of finance, long known for its stable returns and obscurity. Proponents tout its many benefits while opponents scream about its expenses and lack of disclosure.
For those who have followed us for a while, you'd expect today might be one where we reinforce the benefits and side with the cash value friendly crowd.
You'd be sorely mistaken.
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-Americans Have Junk in the Trunk!
-Is the Student Loan Bubble About to Burst?
-Qualified Retirement Deductions May Be Thrown Over the Fiscal Cliff
-The GAO is Seeking to Give New Meaning to the term “Coin Purse”
Lots of agents learn very early in their career that a Modified Endowment Contract is a bad thing. Perhaps it's because they hold the first-in-first-out and tax free via loan distribution privileges in such high regard that losing those benefits seems to kill the whole thing. I'll admit that these benefits are certainly coveted and optimal, but there are times when intentionally owning a modified endowment contract might makes sense, in fact a lot of sense.
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It's been a great year for the annuity industry
Lloyd Blankfein, CEO at Goldman Sachs gives us all some retirement advice
Stocks are cheap…is it time to buy?
Americans are buying life insurance specifically for retirement planning?
We have a lot of conversations that start with the question, “How much money do I need to retire?” The answer is a lot more than you might think, especially if you’re used to scraping out an existence on a six-figure income.
The New York Life Insurance Company has announced its 2013 dividend.
New York Life will increase its dividend payout by $100 million, an 8% increase in total dividends paid over last year.
Penn Mutual has announced its dividend for participating policies for 2013. Penn will pay out a total of $31 million in policy holder dividends, which represents a 2% increase over dividends paid out in 2012.
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Participating Dividends and their legality
Americans really do stink at retirement planning
Stocks are still scary
Whole life policy blending explained NOTE: towards the end of this episode Brandon makes a comment about the expected cash surrender value found in a “properly” blended policy. This was a rule of thumb based off old policies that are no longer available. Generally speaking, we know find that a first year cash value between 60 and 70% to be the most optimal and a good indicator of correct design.
