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☆ 401(k) rollover advice rule is at risk. Here's what retirement savers need to know
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Two federal district courts in Texas issued a national "stay" of the regulation, in separate rulings in July. The rule will "create a level playing field" for all trusted investment professionals, according to a Labor Department spokesperson. "The insurance industry can continue to advise investors and sell annuities, without giving advice that is imprudent, disloyal, or tainted by misrepresentations or overcharges," the spokesperson said. Current retirement rollover advice rules stay in effectIn the meantime, the current status quo remains in effect, attorneys said. Current rules let brokers give investment advice that earns them a higher commission but isn't in savers' best interests, the Labor Department said during the rulemaking process.

Persons: Julie Su, Chip Somodevilla, Fred Reish, Drinker Biddle, didn't Organizations: Getty, U.S, Northern, Northern District of, American, of, United States Department of Labor, Americans, Consumer Choice, Department of Labor, Labor Department, Department of Justice, Biden, National Association of Insurance, Financial Advisors, National Association Locations: Texas, Northern District, Northern District of Texas, ACLI, NAIFA, Dallas, Fort Worth

☆ Life insurers binge on US financing aimed at helping housing
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

It has been predominantly used by life insurers, because they need to boost their investment returns with cheap funding to meet long-term liabilities. They provide the cheap funding to banks and insurers in exchange for collateral to ensure they get their money back. Insurers are entitled to tap FHLB funding. Insurers’ borrowing from FHLBs picked up in 2008 financial crisis, as those that spread themselves thin with aggressive investments scrambled for cash. They did not explain why insurers need FHLB funding to invest in mortgages.

Persons: Sarah Silbiger, Ryan Donovan, CMBS, Lawrence White, White, Graphics JUICING, Cynthia Beaulieu, Cornelius Hurley, Hurley, FHLBs, ’, Michael Ericson, Jack Dolan, Koh Qui, Greg Roumeliotis, Anna Driver Organizations: REUTERS, Loan, Federal Housing Finance Agency, of Federal Home Loan, FHLBs, FHLB, National Association of Insurance, New York University, MetLife Inc, Equitable Holdings Inc, Corebridge, Brighthouse Financial, MetLife, TIAA, Equitable, Graphics, Wellington Management, Boston University School of Law, Coalition, Silicon Valley Bank, First, American, of, Insurance Coalition, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, Boston, Silicon, First Republic, Chicago, New York

☆ Insight: Insurers poised for US break on investment losses from high rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Koh Gui Qing | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

A negative IMR forces insurers to tap pots of money they would have otherwise spent on their business or returned to shareholders. Among those insurers are Prudential Financial (PRU.N), OneAmerica Financial Partners, Principal Financial (PFG.O) and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, according to Fitch. That compares to $1.8 billion in net fixed income-related losses Prudential recorded in 2022. They do not give banks the option of deferring interest rate-related losses, fearing excesses that led to the 2008 financial crisis. DEFERRING LOSSESFollowing the rule change, insurers will be allowed to amortize interest rate-related losses over time equivalent to 10% of their statutory surplus.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Fitch, Edward Stone, Stone, Ken Tanji, MassMutual, OneAmerica, Steven Zabel, Zabel, Koh Gui Qing, David French, Greg Roumeliotis, Anna Driver Organizations: Prudential Financial, REUTERS, SEATTLE, Sunday, National Association of Insurance, Reuters, Federal Reserve, OneAmerica Financial Partners, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, Prudential, Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank, Insurance, American Council of, Equitable Holdings, MetLife, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, MassMutual, OneAmerica, Financial, Unum, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, Seattle, Fitch, Silicon, New York

☆ Guaranteed lifetime income gains appeal amid worries a recession is coming
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

More retirement plans to offer annuity optionsThe passage of the Secure Act also made it easier for employers to offer annuities as one retirement savings plan option. Starting in the fall, Fidelity will let plan participants convert some of their retirement savings into an immediate income annuity to provide pension-like payments throughout retirement. BlackRock and State Street Global Advisors, two of the largest asset managers, also announced target-date funds with retirement income annuity options. Having an annuity option when you retire is a good thing. Annuity sales hit a record in 2023Annuity sales hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2023, up roughly 50% from a year ago, according to Limra, an insurance industry trade group.

Persons: Susan Neely, Mark McCombe, Carolyn McClanahan, Todd Giesing Organizations: Fidelity, Fidelity Investments, BlackRock, Street Global Advisors, Planning Partners Locations: Jacksonville , Florida

☆ A record $100 billion was paid out in life insurance benefits last year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

US life insurers paid out a record $100 billion in benefits in 2021, according to new data released Monday by the American Council of Life Insurers. “For the second year in a row, life insurance benefit payments increased by double-digit percentages,” said Andrew Melnyk, ACLI Vice President, Research & Chief Economist. The ACLI data doesn’t break out the causes of death of life insurance policyholders. When a breadwinner in a family dies, life insurance can go a long way toward alleviating any immediate financial stress their spouse and children might experience. Many people have some life insurance coverage that their employer provides.

☆ The rich can use offshore life-insurance policies to pass down everything from stocks to yachts to their kids tax-free. Here's how it works and why the Senate is targeting it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Hayley Cuccinello | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The richest of the rich can use life insurance to avoid estate and income taxes. Life insurance is probably the least sexy area of financial planning. Private-placement life insurance is a little-known tax-avoidance tactic. When structured correctly, PPLI policies can be used to pass on assets from stocks to yachts to heirs without incurring an estate tax. A 40% federal estate tax applies to estate values topping $12.06 million for single people and $24.1 million for married couples.

☆ How the mind of an 80-year-old president is biologically different from a 45-year-old president's
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-13 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

It was 1988, and he'd approached President Ronald Reagan in the Cabinet room at the White House. People scoffed at the glowing hourlong media conference that President Donald Trump's White House doctor gave about his health. Reagan publicly announced he had Alzheimer's disease five years after he left the White House. Francis Shen, who teaches psychiatry at Harvard Medical School's Center for Bioethics, would like to see information about political leaders' cognitive health made public. Cognitive health should be no different, he said, because it also might affect the way presidents and members of Congress make important decisions.

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