Author Archives for alexhouse
July 11, 2014 11:15 am
Published by alexhouse
The single biggest retirement concern facing seniors today is running out of money in retirement. A recent survey* questioning 1,000 Americans with $50,000 to $250,000 in investable assets—found that 55 percent of respondents were terrified of not having enough money to live out retirement. This beat fears of losing a job (35 percent), public speaking (25 percent), weight gain (24 percent) or going to the dentist (23 percent). If you are in retirement or still working and saving for retirement, take a few minutes to...
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July 2, 2014 11:26 am
Published by alexhouse
When I coached college football years ago, the young players often wanted to stand out, to be different and unique, and have some sort of distinction from the other players. Some would wear their uniforms differently, with multicolored socks or flashy undershirts. Some would do crazy things with their hair, like shave it off, grow an extra-long beard, or let their really long hair flow out of their helmet. Although any one of these features would get a player noticed, my coaching experience taught me...
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June 27, 2014 8:07 am
Published by alexhouse
We often hear the expression that an educated consumer is the best consumer. I believe this holds true, whether someone is purchasing an appliance or an annuity. When visiting a client for the first time, after a discussion of goals and objectives, I like to explain the four types of annuities. Immediate Annuity – This is similar to a personal pension and the most traditional form of an annuity. When you implement an immediate annuity, you will receive a set amount of money for a...
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June 20, 2014 4:52 pm
Published by alexhouse
Longevity is on the rise, and with increasing life expectancies, many people are running into the problem of outliving their savings. If we hit a major inflationary period, you could very well run out of money faster than expected. The problem lies not in when you will run out of money, but which vehicle offers the guarantee that you won’t outlive your money and allows for growth opportunities. Many retirees may need to start rethinking the way of the 1980s, when the norm was accumulation...
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June 19, 2014 8:30 am
Published by alexhouse
The answer you receive to this question will depend on the person you ask. I’m of the mindset that if it works for my client, I like it. If it doesn’t work for my client, I don’t like it. First, we need to understand that every investment in the world is designed with a specific goal in mind. Let me give you an analogy to help it sink in. Automobiles are all made with a specific intended use. If you needed to haul 15 people...
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June 16, 2014 9:32 am
Published by alexhouse
Many owners of variable annuities purchased in the mid-2000s have been receiving letters from the insurance companies offering substantial sums for giving up the guarantees provided in their income or death benefit riders. The riders were named a confusing alphabet soup of initials that would drive a Scrabble champion nuts. Known as GMIB, Enhanced GMIB, Enhanced GDB, GWB, GAB, etc., they were coupled with their method of computing the increases – automatic step-up and ratcheting to name a couple. The riders aimed to provide a...
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May 28, 2014 4:58 pm
Published by alexhouse
As with so many annuity and other retirement decisions the answer is, “that depends”! This is not a ‘cop out’ on our part. It depends on where you are relative to retirement, where your funds are currently invested and what your plans are going forward. There are many rider options within Fixed Index Annuities (FIAs) and most of these carry an additional fee. So before you jump into one of these options you need to answer this question “do I need this?” The Income rider...
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May 27, 2014 11:48 am
Published by alexhouse
Bonuses, rollup rates, income-doublers, payout rates… It’s all noise. What do you really get out of an annuity for every dollar you put in? Recently, a prospective client came into the office and was interested in discussing annuities. He said he and his wife were looking at an annuity that offered a 7% bonus and guaranteed 10% interest. However, before the prospect bought this annuity, he wanted to see what we had to offer. When I said, “What we have to offer you is an...
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May 23, 2014 9:56 am
Published by alexhouse
Close your eyes for a moment. Picture what your “ideal” investment would look like. Now that you are back to reality, what did you picture? Did some of following aspects come to mind? No risk to loss of principal Reasonable rate of return Liquidity of funds Low or no investment fees Diversification Income ability Tax deferral For many of you, these characteristics describe exactly what the “ideal” investment would look like for you. So, my question is – why don’t you have an investment like...
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May 21, 2014 1:10 am
Published by alexhouse
For years now, with record low interest rates, many have come to the belief that inflation is a non-factor. Before I address that assumption, let us first understand what inflation is. In its simplest terms, inflation is an increase in the price of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. It reduces purchasing power and has been referred to as the “Silent Thief”. Historically, inflation is said to grow at around 4% per year. That means one dollar today should be...
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