By Charles E.F. Millard For decades, the insurance and investment industries have tried to sell products that deliver lifetime income in retirement. But those products won’t be adopted unless they are simple, seamless and easy to use. The more decision-making is required for participants, the lower the adoption rate is, no matter the plan. There…
By Charles E.F. Millard Lifetime income solutions make a lot of promises: guaranteed payouts; liquidity; portability; simplicity; maximizing asset growth. But do they all deliver on these promises to their full capacity? In evaluating lifetime income solutions, we need to examine each of those promises —with growth opportunity as one of the most critical considerations….
By Charles E.F. Millard Participants want lifetime income. What they don’t want is to lose control of—and access to—their assets. The real challenge for any plan sponsor considering in-plan annuities is finding a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA) solution. No plan sponsor wants to default a participant into anything that is, or ever could become,…
By Charles E.F. Millard Ever since the passage of the SECURE Act in 2019, defined contribution (DC) plans have been top-of-mind for many advisors and sponsors. Competing solutions comprise an “alphabet soup” of options, including DIAs, SPIAs, VAs, FAs, FIAs, QLACs, GMWBs and GLWBs. Even if you decipher the code, you still have the mother…