Monday, October 24, 2016

WSJ: Is Longevity Insurance Too Risky?

By SIMON CONSTABLE
The chance of a guaranteed lifetime income in old age seems like something risk-averse people would jump at.
Yet many of them are shunning a product—a type of annuity known as longevity insurance—designed to provide just that.
The problem, a recent study found, may stem from the need to make a large single payment to buy the insurance when people don’t know how long they are going to live. Such insurance typically starts paying a fixed monthly sum to beneficiaries when they reach age 80 or 85. But the payments stop when the policyholder dies. Read more here.