The following guides cover a variety of retirement planning and annuity-related topics. All of these guides have been written exclusively for Annuity FYI and many include reputable outside resources where additional information can be found. These guides were written to address commonly asked questions. New guides are being added regularly.
Articles & Guides
Should You Buy an Annuity? That Depends – But You Certainly Should Take a Good Look at One
The fact is, however, most retirees, including millionaires, periodically worry about the possibility of running out of money. And if those people had retired in 1999 or 2007 – just before two of the biggest bear markets ever – they indeed would have had plenty …
Our Retirement Savings Crisis Can Be Remedied
Automate your savings. This is the easiest way to save money, regardless of your income. Having a specified dollar amount transferred from your paycheck into your retirement savings account before you even see it enables you to save money with little effort. Articles about working …
Managing Retirement Finances Requires Budgeting – as Well as Income Accumulation — and Analyzing Your Percentage of Past Income
Not having a good handle on your likely rate of spending in retirement is virtually certain to impact you. You’re either spending too much, jeopardizing your financial security in later years, or spending too little, undermining your lifestyle for no good reason. Pretty much everybody …
Insights into Buying a Second Annuity
Should you decide to proceed, don’t be put off by the fact that interest rates today are probably lower than they were when you bought your first annuity. They are still better than you can get in most other investments. And, in fact, trying to …
Know the Ins and Outs Before You Buy an Annuity
Annuities can be complicated and are often hurt by misconceptions. Before you consider buying one, you have to do homework. And then you have to make sure you avoid mistakes that can lead to making a bad financial decision. Fewer than 10% of Americans own …
Is a Top-Rated Annuity Worth the Price of Admission?
Financial planning firms say that up to 75% of shoppers commonly say, at least initially, that they want the highest-rated annuities available. When told that good, safe annuities with strong ratings — but not the top rating — pay more, only about half of them …
The Wisdom of the Four Percent Rule is Fading
Most retirees like things to be simple, and financial advisers have accommodated them. So for almost three decades, they have passed along a basic rule of thumb that suggested that retirees withdrew 4% of their investment portfolio annually, and adjust the amount for inflation. But …
Just How Much Do You Need to Retire?
It’s not that there aren’t steps to be taken to achieve financial satisfaction in retirement, experts say. Disciplined middle-class people can identify these and execute them. A proper mindset, however, is required. Let’s say you’re on the cusp of retirement. By then, you should have …
Don’t Forget to Review Your Retirement Finances Over the Holidays
(Editor’s note): Everybody likes to have a fun holiday season, and this certainly includes seniors. But don’t throw caution to the wind. Social Security payments are helpful but not particularly large. Few seniors enjoy the kind of steady income they enjoyed during their full-time working …
A Q&A with Annuity Journalist Kerry Pechter
Kerry Pechter knows a lot about annuities. As the founder of Retirement Income Journal, author of Annuities for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons, 2008), and former annuity marketer at Vanguard, he’s been writing about them for almost 20 years. Pechter has no vested interest in …
Choose Passive Over Active Stock Fund Management? It Depends
Debates have raged for decades about the relative advantages and disadvantages of active stock fund investing versus passive investing. While interesting, however, it has always been relatively inconclusive. That is, until now, at least in the eyes of the majority of investors. You need look …
The Old Folks are All Right (More or Less)
You don’t hear much about Americans who retire with tiny nest eggs and who rely mostly on Social Security in their old age. But, according to focus groups and interviews conducted for the Society of Actuaries, working class retirees in their mid-70s and older seem …
