The 50+ Market: Annuities go with the flow

In 2011 the Associated Press took a survey of baby boomers: half of them are delaying retirement and a staggering 60 percent lost value in their investments during the 2008 financial crisis. Baby boomers have had to endure a dot-com bubble, a housing crisis, a war on terrorism, and the financial crisis of 2008—and that was just in the last decade. The financial turmoil brought about from the “lost decade” of investing will never be fully recognized. While we as advisors will never be able to accurately forecast stock market corrections or pullbacks, we can prepare our clients for the next 2008 by utilizing alternative investments. Perhaps we should shift our strategy for those baby boomer clients away from rate of returns and toward lifetime income guarantees; after all, baby boomers have spoken and a staggering 61 percent fear outliving their money in retirement over death.

Source: Philip Rousseaux, RFC, CMFC, CLTC, is the founder and president of Everest Wealth Management, Inc.

$1.58 billion—The amount of income earned from the sale of annuities at bank holding companies in the first half of 2012, up 3.4% over $1.53 billion earned in first half 2011.

Source: “Michael White-ABIA Bank Annuity Fee Income Report”