Author Archives for alexhouse
March 15, 2012 9:35 am
Published by alexhouse
As a way of saying thank you to clients, American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company invites policyholders to attend client appreciation lunches within their communities. These luncheons are hosted by Executive Chairman David J. Noble and President Ronald J. Grensteiner. American Equity began hosting these events in order to help address the clients’ concerns about the economic downturn, volatile stock market, and historically low interest rates. Since inception in June 2010, the company has hosted more than 7,500 policyholders in 39 cities. Topics of conversation...
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March 14, 2012 10:59 am
Published by alexhouse
The first free online matching service designed to help baby boomers find the best retirement income specialists is now available throughout California. Annuity123, the online retirement income educational portal, has opened their Annuity Harmony matching service for the benefit of all California consumer This innovative online matching service is aimed to match baby boomers and retirees with annuity and retirement income specialists. Annuity123, owned by Annuity Think Tank, has recently launched an interactive and educational website on everything about retirement income and annuities. The goal...
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March 13, 2012 11:35 am
Published by alexhouse
According to a survey of more than 9,200 workers by global professional services company Towers Watson, an increasing amount of U.S. workers say that they are willing to trade some of their pay for more secure and generous retirement and health care benefits. The findings of this survey are efficiently described in a recent post from Bill Coffin where it is evident that the worries about the economy, recent volatility in the market, and fears of unsustainable benefits have resulted in individuals having a much...
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March 12, 2012 9:53 am
Published by alexhouse
A new online matching service aimed to match baby boomers and retirees with annuity and retirement income specialists is now live in Arizona. Annuity123, owned by Annuity Think Tank, launched an interactive and educational website on everything about retirement income and annuities. The goal of Annuity123 is not only to provide free retirement education for consumers in Arizona, but to also provide them a site to locate the best retirement income and annuity specialists in their city. Annuity Harmony, the free matching service in Annuity123,...
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March 8, 2012 10:37 am
Published by alexhouse
For the average insurance professional selling index annuities, there have been some major ups and downs over the past few years. Just a couple of years ago it almost seemed certain that fixed index annuities were going to be changed to securities with 151A. However, the insurance and annuity community really came together and won a tough battle against the powerful broker dealers and FINRA. We have also seen commissions take a nosedive, caps have followed a similar pattern, and the beloved income riders that...
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March 3, 2012 11:30 am
Published by alexhouse
To begin, none of this can be construed as investment advice as we never give any investment advice or stock recommendations. What we strive to do is bring education and solid content to our readers. This week we came across an incredible read from CNN Money called, “Why Buy and Hold Doesn’t Work Anymore“. The title jumped out at us right away because that is usually the opposite of what CNN and many of their peers publish. Not to mention, it is the mantra that...
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February 27, 2012 9:07 pm
Published by alexhouse
For many years annuities have received some bad press. Big names such as Suzi Orman and Dave Ramsey have made negative comments on certain types of annuities. And even many financial planners bashed using traditional annuities like SPIA’s due to annuitization. You see, annuitization basically means forced income and in some instances your beneficiaries might lose out if you passed away early. There are so many misconceptions about annuities due to these SPIA’s (single premium IMMEDIATE annuities). For instance, the average Joe hears “annuity” and...
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February 27, 2012 10:59 am
Published by alexhouse
HLM Consumer Services, LLC announces the sale of their comprehensive retirement educational website, Annuity123.com, to Annuity Think Tank. Annuity123.com is an interactive and educational site on everything concerning retirement income and annuities. The site also boasts a free matching service for baby boomers where they can find and interview retirement income specialists in their area. The fast growing Annuity123 website and the matching service, Annuity Harmony, is being sold by HLM Consumer Services, LLC. The sale and agreement was finalized over the Feb 26th weekend...
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February 24, 2012 9:09 am
Published by alexhouse
Dorothy Miller created the the term “Sandwich Generation” in 1981, to describe middle aged adults who found themselves responsible not only for their active children, but also for their aging parents who increasingly needed help with health and daily living challenges. Since then, their numbers have increased. It is true that in other cultures and in the past, multigenerational living arrangements were common, but post-war and mobile societies in western nations are generally centered around the single family unit. Now the current levels in unemployment,...
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February 15, 2012 7:57 pm
Published by alexhouse
The good old days of working hard for 30+ years and then retiring with a pension plan and social security or even just social security are in a sharp decline if not over. Certainly if you are not close to age 62 the likely hood that social security will be all the retirement income you need is very low. With the ever growing medical expenses more and more baby boomers are likely to outlive their retirement income. The stagnant economy also presents a threat...
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