Betting on US Life Expectancy Proves Risky

Spiegel Online ^ | 01 September 200 | Christoph Pauly and Anne Seith

[lowbuck]

Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions manage complex funds that buy up Americans' life insurance policies and pay their premiums in return for their payouts. But angry German investors are finding that Americans aren't dying as quickly as expected -- and that only the bankers are making a buck.

snip -

[lowbuck]

An interesting read about some other dubious investments, except, you are the banker/broker!

[Jagman]

You know, of course that the Illuminati movement began in Ingolstadt, Germany, and that every US president since Washington has been a member? Suddenly, the whole death panel thingie is coming into clearer focus! ;-)

[KarlInOhio]

But angry German investors are finding that Americans aren't dying as quickly as expected --

Obamacare can cure that.

[Leisler]

The elderly, by and large, are awash in money. Never, ever have so many old people had so much money.

Now where to ‘invest’ it?

Well, there’s a big problem. Europeans are not having children, nor much more then them are Americans. The Japanese really have that problem.

Too many old people with money, and too few young.

In other words, the inter generational supply demand, is tilted.

Too much money, too little demand, then returns rates are low. Yet the old want high rates of return( greed ). So products are manufactured which promise and satisfy the consumer demand of, in this case, old people wanting high rates.

High rates always mean high risk.

You can not have your rate and not risk it too.

[Sudetenland]

"... relied too much on medical experts and statistics for the United States."

Ah, the much touted (by Obamacare advocates) life expectancy numbers.

Isn't it amazing how much difficulty one can find himself in when he is relying on statistics to predict the future? Kind of like the man who drowned in the river that had an average depth of 1 foot.

When you rely on statistics, you don't allow for facts that skew the results. Also statistics are for evaluating the past, not for predicting the future.

[mikey_hates_everything]

Lobby Congress to mandate Swine Flu vaccines and cut funding for FDA inspections. That should get the life insurance payouts flowing.