Are you a pre-retiree planning to live a financially secure retirement? What are some of the challenges you might be facing as you save for your future retirement needs? What are some of the solutions you might consider during these unprecedented times?
Those and other questions were tackled by Grant Kvalheim, the CEO of Athene USA and Greg Dillon, a principal with OneTeam Financial, in a recent panel discussion, sponsored by Athene.
According to Kvalheim, the landscape is more complex and challenging for pre-retirees than it’s ever been. There are fewer sources of guaranteed income, people are living longer, health care costs are rising, and we are living in a period of historically low interest rates as well as extreme market volatility.
Given that, Kvalheim said annuities – and especially fixed index annuities (FIAs) -- can help pre-retirees address some of those challenges. Among other things, FIAs provide protection from loss due to market downturns with the opportunity for growth based in part on the performance of a market index. What’s more, FIAs provide guaranteed retirement income, and – as an enhancement that one might choose – inflation protection.
From his perspective, Dillon said what makes FIAS unique is the principal protection with growth potential and lifetime income.
What’s more, Kvalheim said FIAs can be used in a variety of ways to fit quite well in a total financial plan.
Kvalheim also discussed how today’s annuities are being designed to meet diverse planning needs. For consumers who are willing to accept more risk might consider a relatively new annuity, a registered index-linked annuities or RILAs. This product, according to Athene, “can be described as a cross between a fixed indexed annuity and a variable annuity.”
Kvalheim also discussed how Athene is bringing innovative index solutions to market, including those that use artificial intelligence and machine learning.
This article originally appeared on TheStreet.
