Financial security provided by income annuities questioned
January 18, 2013 by Warren S. Hersch
While income annuities are frequently recommended by advisors to increase guaranteed income, the products do not always improve financial security in retirement, new research concludes.
The Society of Actuaries, Schaumburg, Ill., makes this claim in a January 2013 report, “Measures of Retirement Benefit Adequacy: Which, Why, for Whom and How Much.” Conducted by the society’s Pension Section Research Committee, the study reports the impact on a hypothetical’s couple’s income and wealth for each of three scenarios: one involving no annuity; and two alternatives in which 25 percent and 50 percent of the couple’s wealth is annuitized. Click here to read…