Variable annuities certainly are -- the only people that benefit are the ones that collect the fees. But, fixed annuities are a good way to reduce risk, if you are willing to settle for a lower return.
Anyone can buy an annuity now. All you need do is contact almost any licensed Insurance Agent for details.
Yup, that's what I've been trying to tell everyone. The concept isn't new.
That however, is not what's being discussed by these people.
That's not what is being discussed by this blogger, who is trying to alarm everyone so that he can convince them to buy what he is selling.
But, it is what is being discussed by the government. I've read the original request for information/proposal (don't remember the exact name) from the Department of Labor. What they requested was feedback on imposing additional responsibilities for 401(k) administrators.
Right now, a few administrators offer an option to convert 401(k)'s into a lifetime annuity. If I were interested, I'd be a little hesitant to take that option without shopping around. But, the government is considering requiring administrators to offer that option to people that are cashing out their 401(k) or rolling it over to an IRA when they retire.
Another part of the proposal that I found interesting was the requirement to add more information to the quarterly 401(k) statement: an estimate of the lifetime monthly income that would be generated by your current 401(k) balance. I think there was also a proposal to project the monthly amount if you continued to contribute at the same level, until normal retirement age.
The point of this proposal was to make retirement planning easier for 401(k) account holders: they could tell whether they are on track to have enough income in retirement, or if they needed to save more.
I want them to leave me the hell alone. Once one agrees to the premise that this is a proper are for Federal intrusion into my life I've lost the argument.
I'm sick of these bastards. I don't trust them any farther than I could throw them with my penis.
With them it's never about me, it's always about them. So I hope you'll forgive me for spouting off in your general direction. It's nothing personal, it's just that I no longer trust any of them no matter how much they claim their actions are going to benefit me somehow.
No where in the US Constitution is "regulating how Americans invest their own money for their own retirement" mentioned as a specific, enumerated power of Congress. So I hope you'll forgive me when I say "back the hell off".
Have a nice evening.