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The Drivers of the Efficiency of Protected Lifetime Income Benefit (PLIB) Strategies: Part 3

I explore some of the factors driving the superiority of PLIBs, in particular lapsation, mortality experience differences, accessing the equity risk premium, and the marginal role of annuities as part of a retirement strategy.
Contrasting Protected Lifetime Income Benefits (PLIBs) Against Other Annuities (Part 2)

This article explores the efficacy of PLIBs against a retirement income strategy that does not include an annuity, as well as strategies which allocate to either a SPIA, a DIA, or a GLWB. I used a utility framework for this analysis.
Guaranteed Lifetime Income Isn’t Free

Insurance protects against losses – fires, floods or a wrecked car. Because of the life-altering consequences of such as loss, clients rarely question the cost of the insurance. When viewed through an analogous framework, the cost of lifetime-income insurance, such as a GLWB, is fairly priced.
Annuity Questions, Answered
Advisors have a lot of questions about annuities. With today’s expanding marketplace of commission-free options for fiduciary advisors, accurate annuity information is more important than ever. Join this session with leading academics to ask your questions about annuity products and strategies.
Attendees who complete all 5 sessions will receive a very special, soft “Annui-tee” to congratulate them for completion.
The Traditional Approach to International Diversification is Losing Its Relevance

The predominant approach to classifying securities geographically is based on domicile, the legal home of a company. But that approach is losing its relevance. Investors should consider foreign revenue to understand the international risks of investments and portfolios.
How to Evaluate and Compare Annuities
Longevity and sequence of returns create very real risks for today’s retirees. Fortunately, fiduciary advisors have a robust and growing selection of no-load annuity solutions to explore that can protect client plans from these risks.
Join this session to learn how to assess risk in clients’ portfolios and take your annuity understanding to the next level by learning how to compare annuities by type and use.
Using Annuities with Purpose
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to annuities, but fiduciary advisors have learned that no-load solutions can be a powerful tool in their planning toolbox.
Join this session to learn how and when to use commission-free annuities based on clients’ specific needs, and how to implement annuities strategically in your fiduciary practice (e.g. how to collect a fee for annuity allocations).
Attendees who complete all 5 sessions will receive a very special, soft “Annui-tee” to congratulate them for completion.
How Annuities Impact Financial Plans and Client Behavior
While your clients can’t buy happiness, you can help bring them peace of mind through a Commission-Free annuity that protects their retirement plan. According to recent academic research, buying an annuity can increase retirees’ satisfaction and give them confidence to stick to their plan.
Join this session – the second in a 5-part series – to understand how annuities create a license to spend in retirement and help insure the success of a financial plan.
Attendees who complete all 5 sessions will receive a very special, soft “Annui-tee” to congratulate them for completion.
Annuities for Today’s Retirement Realities
According to leading economists and academics, annuities can generate retirement income more efficiently than bonds for today’s retirees. In addition, they can ease the impact of a market downturn on a portfolio and create the opportunity for heavier allocations to equities for discretionary spending or legacy designations. Join this session – the first in a 5-part series – to understand how and why advisors are using commission-free
This session is the first of a new five-part annuity education series, featuring leading academics Wade Pfau, Ph.D., CFA, RICP® Professor and RICP®️, Michael Finke, Ph.D., Frank M. Engle Distinguished Chair in Economic Security, David Blanchett, PhD, CFA, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, and DPL Founder and CEO, David Lau.
The False Promise of U.S. Historical Returns

Relying on only historical U.S. returns creates an unrealistic picture of retirement outcomes. Our analysis shows that U.S. data are an anomaly among the broader global universe, and that our low-yield environment forebodes lower-than-average equity returns.
Understanding Variable Annuities In Retirement Planning
Variable annuities were created to give retirees access to lifetime income with the potential for growth. Today’s products offer a range of features such as liquidity, investment risk hedging, access to a risk premium, tax deferral, and longevity protection. This panel address the tradeoff of these product features and when they provide the greatest value to retirees. The best variable annuities offer reasonable-cost options that provide income, investment flexibility and downside protection when clients need them most. CFP and IWI CE credits pending.
Should Clients Wait to Purchase an Annuity?

This article explores the trade-offs associated with the decision to delay an annuity purchase – in particular the interaction between changes in bond yields and assumed portfolio rates of return, and the impact of mortality improvement.
What Advisors Miss When it Comes to Inflation and Annuities
The fact only roughly 1 in 20 annuity quotes include a COLA suggests that advisors are not considering, and retirees are not being provided with, information that is essential for determining the optimal annuity benefit payment structure.
Inflation-Linked SPIAs Are a Bad Deal
I recently traded emails with someone who is provably smarter than me. He was very interested in buying a SPIA with payments linked to inflation, which is also called a real annuity. Real annuities are often depicted as perfect for a retiree. But after obtaining some quotes and running an analysis, I concluded the idea was “nuts.”
Testing DALBAR’s Claims about Mutual Fund Investors
DALBAR’s report is commonly cited as “proof” that mutual fund investors have historically made poor market-timing decisions. While DALBAR does not publicly disclose its approach, in this article I use a transparent and industry-accepted methodology, based on publicly available data, to demonstrate that investors’ returns have not been nearly as bad as DALBAR claims.