June Is National Annuity Awareness Month

If you are concerned about diversifying your clients' income during retirement and are searching for strategies to protect against potential increases in taxes and inflation, then join the next Advisor Today webinar on Tuesday, June 13 at 2 pm eastern with Allianz.

At "Decumulation Diversification," Schyler Adams, Director of Advanced Strategies & Planning Platforms will reveal concepts and innovative approaches to secure your clients' financial future. Don't miss this opportunity to optimize retirement income and help your clients achieve long-term financial stability.

Reverse mortgage loans are widely misunderstood, and many homeowners and advisors have a strong negative bias against them. Unfortunately, those misconceptions and preconceptions hold back many ideal candidates from ever considering a reverse mortgage.

Today’s reverse mortgage loans are not the same as they were even a decade ago, and it is to your advantage as a trusted financial professional to take a fresh look at them, as they can often be a viable solution to many of the financial challenges that retirees face.

The aim of this piece is to help you understand both common, and somewhat less common, questions about reverse mortgages. Armed with the facts, you will have a much clearer picture of whether a reverse mortgage might be right for older-adult homeowners you advise.

Note: Most, but not all, reverse mortgages today are a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), the only reverse mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). This article refers only to the HECM reverse mortgage.

You probably are well aware that the inflation rate in the U.S. has been hitting fresh 40-year records lately. But did you know divorce rates in the U.S. for older couples have been reaching new highs lately, too? In fact, for couples in the U.S. who are 65 and older, the divorce rate has tripled since the 1990s. The trend is called “Silver Divorce” or “Grey Divorce.”

For older adults who are divorcing, assets have likely been intertwined for decades, adding to the challenge of dividing them. Financial needs are sure to be top of mind, as both parties will need a means to support their own individual lifestyles throughout a potentially lengthy retirement period.

For homeowners 62 and older, a reverse mortgage could help as part of a divorce settlement.

Here are three ways people 62 and older (working in tandem with their advisors) can incorporate reverse mortgages into sound retirement plans to potentially improve retirement outcomes.

When it comes to making savings last over a lengthy retirement period, retirees have no shortage of obstacles to contend with: soaring inflation, longer life expectancy, volatile markets, exuberant long-term care costs — the list goes on and on.

Join us on July 8, 2022, at 11 am eastern for the webinar "Retirement Risks in a Post-COVID World."

Financial services speaker and bestselling author Joseph Jordan will identify the challenges facing the insurance and financial services industry after the COVID-19 pandemic ends and address the six retirement risks consumers should consider:

• Longevity – Risk of Outliving Assets
• Market and Interest Rate Risk
• Withdrawal Rate Risk
• Sequence of Return Risk
• Purchasing Power/Inflation Risk
• Health Risks

New research from LIMRA and Life Happens, almost a quarter of Americans say they would dip into their retirement savings if they experienced a disability. But between tax penalties and loss of the opportunity for compounding interest, an early withdrawal can do more harm than good.

Ah, retirement. The reward at the end of years in the labor force, of saving and investing and planning for financially sound, restful, and even adventure-filled golden years. Millions of Americans enter retirement annually, but increased reliance on Social Security income and Covid-19’s impact on employment, access to social supports, and mental and physical health have altered the retirement experience for retirees across the U.S. With retiree numbers significantly increasing in the last year and predictions of more to come at an accelerated rate, we wanted to know if retirement still lives up to expectations. Are retirees experiencing the retirement they expected, or do they have regrets? 

Guaranteed income strategies have emerged as underutilized methods to not only help people save for retirement, but also provide a stream of income to sustain them during potentially longer life spans.

The rapidity is which the economy toppled due to the pandemic was startling, to say the least. Coming off a record 11-year bull market, many retirees may have been lulled into thinking that their retirement accounts would continue to increase indefinitely. Suddenly faced with a portfolio drastically reduced in value, retirees scrambled to find a substitute for selling invested funds at a loss.

401(k) account balances have gone up 93 percent, nearly double since the economic downturn in 2009, according to the latest research from the Principal Financial Group. While much of the increase reflects a rebounding market, the study found a significant increase in participation and savings rates since the market collapse, with account balances rising 17 percent in 2013 alone, to an average of $54,000.