Category: Protecting What’s Yours

  • Father tossing his laughing young daughter into the air against a golden sunset sky in an open field

    Retirement Income Investing: Beyond Annuities 

    One of the challenges of investing during retirement is providing for annual income while balancing that need with other considerations, such as liquidity, how long you need your funds to last, your risk tolerance, and anticipated rates of return for various types of investments. Annuities may be seen as a full or partial solution, since…

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    Immediate Annuities Can Help Provide Lifetime Income 

    Running out of income is a concern for retirees. Immediate annuities offer a financial alternative to help meet retirement income needs by providing a steady stream of income designed to last through retirement.  What is an immediate annuity?  An immediate annuity is a contract between you and an annuity issuer (an insurance company) to which…

  • Grandfather and young grandson laughing together while lying on a grassy lawn

    Annuity Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit 

    What is it?  A “living benefit” annuity rider  A guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) is a rider attached to either a variable annuity or an equity-indexed annuity (also referred to as a fixed indexed annuity) that allows you to receive an annual withdrawal throughout your lifetime, without having to annuitize your contract. It is referred…

  • Elderly couple sitting together on a wooden dock by the water

    Five Questions about Long-Term Care 

    1. What is long-term care?  Long-term care refers to the ongoing services and support needed by people who have chronic health conditions or disabilities. There are three levels of long-term care:  Long-term care is not just provided in nursing homes–in fact, the most common type of long-term care is home-based care. Long-term care services may…

  • Two business colleagues — a woman and a man — reviewing content on a tablet in an office

    Estate Planning: An Introduction 

    By definition, estate planning is a process designed to help you manage and preserve your assets while you are alive, and to conserve and control their distribution after your death according to your goals and objectives. But what estate planning means to you specifically depends on who you are. Your age, health, wealth, lifestyle, life stage,…

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    Estate Tax Changes Under Recent Tax Acts 

    Introduction  The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the 2010 Tax Act) was signed into law in December 2010. This law contained dramatic changes to the federal gift and estate tax and the federal generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax. These changes were temporary — for 2011 and 2012 only. However, the…

  • Asian family — mother, father, and young daughter — cooking together at a kitchen counter

    A Roadmap for Your Family 

    A will is an essential legal document that describes how your estate should be distributed upon your death. It is the basis for the probate process and can serve as a guide for your heirs.  A letter of instruction has no formal legal status, but it could be just as important as a will in…

  • A women in white shirt explain to customer

    What is variable life insurance? 

    The insurance industry has introduced different types of insurance to meet consumer needs. For example, universal life insurance was created to provide a solution for many of the perceived shortcomings of whole life insurance and term life insurance. When consumers demanded even more changes from the life insurance industry, it responded with variable life insurance…