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This article proposes that, as a way to encourage consumers to save for retirement, banks offer a new type of savings account that has retirement plan features, the demand for which, unlike existing savings accounts, would be highly sensitive to inte

Commentators on the retirement crisis ignore the potential for increasing the spendable funds available to existing and soon-to-be retirees by integrating existing retirement fund sources. Also ignored is the potential for incenting younger consumers

While targeted savings plans are available for mink coats, motorcycles and many other costly tangibles, they are not available where the need for them is the greatest and where their absence impacts the largest segment of the population: retirement.

Procrastination in saving for retirement is so pervasive that it can be considered the norm.

This article describes a new tool designed to encourage saving for retirement by showing how savings plans adopted early on impact the availability of spendable funds after retirement.

Retirees with existing mortgages will enhance their retirement by repaying their mortgage with a HECM reverse mortgage.

Homeowning retirees with limited financial assets can generate more spendable funds for their remaining years by integrating a private annuity into their retirement plan rather than a tenure payment.

This article explains why HECM reverse mortgages are a stand-alone product rather than part of integrated retirement plans, the unrealized benefits of integration, and how these benefits could be realized.

The overlooked minority are non-affluent retirees whose fears of running out of money could be largely resolved by integrating existing retirement plan components.

This article explains when a homeowner approaching retirement with a mortgage will find it advantageous to pay it off, and the circumstances under which it would be advantageous to retain it, with an associated calculator that allows any particular h

This article describes a new tool designed to encourage saving for retirement by showing how savings plans adopted early on impact the availability of spendable funds after retirement.

This article compares retirement plans for homeowners in which the homeowners draw spendable funds by borrowing against their house with plans in which they sell some of their house equity.

Credit unions have the opportunity to meet the needs of retired members that other financial institutions have ignored.

HUD regulations separating annuities from HECM reverse mortgages were a terrible mistake, the proper goal is to coordinate them.

Annuity laddering, where purchases are staggered over time, has no advantages over a deferred annuity involving a single purchase with deferred payments.

A potentially important benefit from integrating HECM reverse mortgages into retirement plans is that the HECM can be combined with an annuity to neutralize the high risk that accompanies a high-yield asset portfolio.

Retirees with limited wealth are seriously disadvantaged but largely ignored.

A retiree who has financial assets of only $500,000 and no home equity would be wise to use some of those assets to purchase a deferred annuity.

With the number of retirees growing, retirement planning for less affluent retirees could be served by banks if a cost-effective way can be found.

The 3 major components of retirement planning are marketed and handled by different firms, creating a very inefficient result.

One of the unanticipated effects of the pandemic is that it has induced millions of workers to retire early. Yet retirees' advisors cannot answer one major question: how much spendable funds can retirees draw safely, without the fear of running out o

This article does not question whether or not the 4% rule is 100% safe. Rather, it argues that there is an alternative that is equally safe,

People are living longer but they are not increasing the accumulated wealth needed to support a longer life of retirement. The change from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans has increased the population of those reaching retirement

How to integrate the 3 main components of retirement plans.

Low interest rates can prove challenging to retirees who are dependent on asset generated income.

As the only way in which retirees can profit by sharing mortality risk with others in the same age bracket, annuities should be in the retirement plans of almost all retirees. That they are not speaks to the chaotic nature of our private retirement s

Ways are reviewed to improve the cost of retirement services paid by retirees.

How much can a 62 year old retiree draw on his $2 million of assets to ensure it will last him through retirement?

How set-asides can make your retirement plan more reliable.

Outlines the key objectives for a retirement plan and how to pick a good plan for yourself.

Looking at ways that annuities strengthen certain retirement plans.

Looking at whether retirees should include annuities as part of their retirement plans.

The HECM reverse mortgage is an ingeniously designed instrument with multiple possible uses, but its full potential has yet to be realized.

Retirees challenge of balancing how much they can draw from retirement funds and worrying whether they will have enough to last.

The private pension system in the US is in transition from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans. It's not certain whether this is better and much will depend on how defined contribution plans evolve in the future.

Hear about The Professor's experience with rare shells and the danger of investing in such items.

A replacement for the 4% retirement rule is proposed which is designed to overcome the weaknesses in the 4% rule.

The current generation of retirees will face new challenges as the job of investing their retirement funds remains their responsibility.

The private pension system in the US is transitioning from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution 401K plans.

A longevity annuity is a very simple tool to pay the buyer a monthly stipend from a starting date until the buyer dies.

An investment in an annuity can make a lot of sense to a retiree, but can an annuity be purchased online to avoid some risks such as over-charges and misinformation?

This is how can Life Annuities and HECM Reverse Mortgages be used as useful tools in retirement.

Most recent retirees must fund their own retirement, and face the risk that their funds will turn out to be inadequate and they will be forced to spend the last years of their lives living on social security alone.