With nearly 4.5 million Americans turning 65 in 2024, advisors are navigating four core risks that will impact their portfolios in retirement: longevity, inflation, volatility, and emotions. We will discuss new research by Dr. Wade Pfau, professor at The American College of Financial Services. He did this research on behalf of Equitable to look at how to improve the efficient frontier, enhance risk-adjusted returns and help advisors – and their clients – make the most of their assets through their retirement.The research looks at the role of a registered index linked annuity (RILA) with lifetime income for a portion of a portfolio and the resulting impact on meeting lifetime spending goals, preserving assets and managing volatility as part of an overall retirement plan.
This article identifies 10 real-world considerations in tax efficient distribution planning from the perspectives of an academic (Wade Pfau, PhD), a practitioner (Joe Elsasser, CFP), and a CPA (Steven Jarvis).
We analyze a case study for a wealthier couple with $5.5 million in investment assets and a larger retirement spending goal.
Research on tax-efficient retirement distribution strategies aims to sequence withdrawals from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-exempt accounts to maximize after-tax spending. That can be either in terms of meeting an after-tax spending goal for as long as possible or preserving the most after-tax legacy after meeting spending needs over a specified timeframe.
A simple annuity can effectively replace bond holdings in a retirement plan that are earmarked to meet the lifetime spending goal. The question is why should a retiree hold any bonds in the portion of their asset base designed to cover ongoing retirement spending goals?
Any of the variable spending strategies I analyzed will reduce sequence risk in retirement and allow for greater initial spending rates, potentially greater average spending amounts, and a generally more efficient spenddown of assets than the baseline constant inflation-adjusted spending rule.
Being flexible with spending matters. My analysis shows that variable spending strategies – including floor-and-ceiling, guardrail, actuarial and other methods – can dramatically increase sustainable retirement spending.
Probability-based retirement income strategies are highly sensitive to the capital market assumptions used in Monte Carlo analysis. Seemingly small changes in those assumptions can mean the difference between projecting a comfortable lifestyle and financial ruin.
A matter that can have large impacts on the marginal tax rates faced by individuals who obtain health insurance coverage through the ACA exchanges is the reduction of the tax credits (or subsidies) for health insurance coverage as incomes increase.
How do taxes impact the 4% rule for retirement spending?
Join this session with leading academics, financial experts, and experienced financial advisors to have your questions about annuity products and strategies answered.
With more Commission-Free annuities available than ever before, many RIAs are discovering the benefits these solutions can provide not only to their clients, but also to their firms. Join this session to learn how RIAs can use Commission-Free annuities to manage portfolio risk, helping protect and grow AUM. These strategies can help RIAs attract and retain clients and deliver better outcomes during accumulation and retirement.
Join this session – the first in a 4-part series – to understand how to use and access this tool, align Commission-Free annuities with client needs and preferences, manage risk during decumulation, and deliver better retirement outcomes.
This is the first in a series of articles that will explore tax-efficient retirement distribution strategies.
Pre-retirees are facing the perfect storm of risks. Inflation is spiking, yields are low, markets are volatile, taxes are unpredictable – all while Americans are reaching new peaks of longevity. You can’t predict what’s going to happen next. But you can help investors prepare. Join us for a discussion on innovative structured strategies using Defined Outcome Funds. These strategies can help you better control investment outcomes – providing a unique return profile distinct from traditional stocks and bonds, offering clients upside agility, downside protection, and substantial tax advantages.
Understanding how reverse mortgages can add value in retirement planning requires an understanding about the peculiarities of sequence-of-return risk that the reverse mortgage can help to manage.
Wade Pfau will answer questions from advisors on topics related to financial planning.
Clients struggle with making right the Social Security claiming decision. This article provides a six-step process to guide clients through the complexity of Social Security.
As the baby boomers reach retirement, advisors must solve new problems for them. And these new problems must be addressed with solutions that evolve to better manage them. Retirement income is different as clients shift their focus from maximizing wealth to creating sustainable income, clients face a greater range of risks, and clients increasingly must solve a complex lifetime financial problem. These matters are becoming particularly vital as near retirees are now experiencing continued market volatility and uncertainty, and historically low interest rates.
This presentation looks at sustainable retirement spending from investments in light of recent market events and discusses strategies to support more spending by integrating both investments and income protections, such as a new Portfolio Retirement Income Guarantee that unbundles the insurance from underlying investments to build more efficient retirement strategies.
Here is a discussion of taxes and legacy when estate tax is not a concern because asset levels are below the estate tax exemptions.
Using a risk tolerance questionnaire to establish a retirement income strategy is akin to your doctor checking your pulse to measure your cholesterol. There is nothing wrong with checking your pulse, but it is an inappropriate test for the situation. We propose an alternative test – the RISA – to select the best deaccumulation approach.
Here is an example that quantifies how strategic tax planning and delayed Social Security claiming can increase portfolio longevity in retirement.
Advisors have a lot of questions about annuities. With today’s expanding marketplace of commission-free options for fiduciary advisors, accurate annuity information is more important than ever. Join this session with leading academics to ask your questions about annuity products and strategies.
Attendees who complete all 5 sessions will receive a very special, soft “Annui-tee” to congratulate them for completion.
With retirement, it is important to consider how declining cognitive skills associated with aging will make it increasingly difficult to self-manage your investment and withdrawal decisions.
Longevity and sequence of returns create very real risks for today’s retirees. Fortunately, fiduciary advisors have a robust and growing selection of no-load annuity solutions to explore that can protect client plans from these risks.
Join this session to learn how to assess risk in clients’ portfolios and take your annuity understanding to the next level by learning how to compare annuities by type and use.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to annuities, but fiduciary advisors have learned that no-load solutions can be a powerful tool in their planning toolbox.
Join this session to learn how and when to use commission-free annuities based on clients’ specific needs, and how to implement annuities strategically in your fiduciary practice (e.g. how to collect a fee for annuity allocations).
While your clients can’t buy happiness, you can help bring them peace of mind through a Commission-Free annuity that protects their retirement plan. According to recent academic research, buying an annuity can increase retirees’ satisfaction and give them confidence to stick to their plan.
Join this session – the second in a 5-part series – to understand how annuities create a license to spend in retirement and help insure the success of a financial plan.
According to leading economists and academics, annuities can generate retirement income more efficiently than bonds for today’s retirees. In addition, they can ease the impact of a market downturn on a portfolio and create the opportunity for heavier allocations to equities for discretionary spending or legacy designations. Join this session – the first in a 5-part series – to understand how and why advisors are using commission-free annuities to strengthen their clients’ retirement plans and grow their firms.
This session is the first of a new five-part annuity education series, featuring leading academics Wade Pfau, Ph.D., CFA, RICP® Professor and RICP®️, Michael Finke, Ph.D., Frank M. Engle Distinguished Chair in Economic Security, David Blanchett, PhD, CFA, CFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, and DPL Founder and CEO, David Lau.
Variable annuities were created to give retirees access to lifetime income with the potential for growth. Today’s products offer a range of features such as liquidity, investment risk hedging, access to a risk premium, tax deferral, and longevity protection. This panel address the tradeoff of these product features and when they provide the greatest value to retirees. The best variable annuities offer reasonable-cost options that provide income, investment flexibility and downside protection when clients need them most. CFP and IWI CE credits pending.
It is important to understand the complex way insurance products work for retirement income. Here is a list of important questions to answer for the three major types of annuity products.
Press coverage around reverse mortgages has grown more positive as new research has explained how they can improve an overall retirement income plan. However, a lingering question remains about the costs of reverse mortgages.
For those who initiated reverse mortgages prior to the October 2017 rule change, the old rules still apply. However, the situation changed significantly for new loans after that date. Where do we stand one year removed from those changes?
How much can clients spend sustainably in retirement? This presentation provides an overview of Wade Pfau’s new book, How Much Can I Spend in Retirement? A Guide to Investment-Based Retirement Income Strategies, which focuses on sustainable spending from investments. He will explain the financial planning research on sustainable spending from investment portfolios in the face of a variety of retirement risks. You will also learn:
Wade will answer attendees’ questions during the webinar and will be available to continue the discussion on APViewpoint.
