Free Republic

Tontines are a bit like the dinosaurs of the retirement world. They perished in a dramatic extinction event, but their DNA lives on in many of the financial products we see today. Tontines were some of the first popular ways to save for retirement, and historians say their demise left the door open for corporate pensions, and Social Security, which continued the tontine promise of a guaranteed retirement.

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio, April 20, 2006 – Eighty silver goblets commemorating each man who flew in the "Doolittle Raid" over Japan were added to the collection of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force here yesterday. Eighty silver goblets commemorating the "Doolittle Tokyo Raiders" were added to the collection of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, April 19. The upside goblets represent deceased Raiders. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo Jr., USAF   "We are honored in the trust you place in us. We will honor and respect...