One of the hard realities of life in our fallen world is aging. Although we live in a culture that celebrates—and sometimes idolized—youthfulness, ironically, everyone is getting old. Some are just older than others. The young may feel as though they will stay young forever, but they won’t. And older people who have been blessed…
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Should I Include Annuities in my Retirement Plan (Part 3)?
In this, the third and final article in this series on annuities, I am going to look at variable annuities. Although sales of fixed index annuities have recently outpaced variable annuities, they remain very popular among new annuity purchasers. Also, since you may be pitched one by your friendly insurance rep or financial advisor, I…
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Should I Include Annuities in my Retirement Plan (Part 2)?
In my last article, I looked at immediate fixed-income annuities and discussed whether I might want to include them as a part of my overall retirement income plan. Guaranteed payments for life are their strong suit (helps mitigate “longevity risk”). But, as I noted, one of my major concerns about immediate fixed-income annuities is that…
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Should I Include Annuities in my Retirement Plan (Part 1)?
I recently helped a friend evaluate an annuity product that he was considering for part of his retirement savings. Like many of us, he wanted to protect some of his assets from gut-wrenching stock market volatility. He also wanted to ensure that he will have sufficient income when he decides to retire in a few…
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