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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

This is no Myth: Big hitters weigh in on annuities

In another blow to the lousy financial advice promulgated by Rupert Murdoch's media empire, three major sources have sung the praises of annuities.  Especially significant is how annuities can be used to help delay Social Security benefits to full retirement age.  I'll give my sources credit for this info.  See the following link:
Robert Powell from MarketWatch

Powell bases most of his remarks on recent studies completed by the GAO and Putnam investments.  He goes on to recommend that seniors have no more than "5-25%" of their money in the stock market to ensure they don't run out of money. 

This is even more conservative than my Rule of 100, which simply states that 100 minus your age is the percent of your assets you should have at risk in "the market" which, in my practice, includes the real estate market.  Most folks I meet with already have way too much at risk via their home equity.  Throw in their retirement savings and most are upside down in risk allocation.  Why take risk at all if you can generate sufficient lifetime income without taking any??