Description: Often an investor is offered an annuity for a fixed purchase price. The computation of the yield rate implied by this transaction must presently be computed by an iteration scheme, usually on a computer. With reasonable parameters, the problem of determining the yield rate can be readily solved with a desk calculator. From the Actuarial Research Clearing House 1982, Vol.1.

Description: Retirees and their advisors should construct diversified portfolios of retirement income, allocating among various retirement income classes that include Social Security, annuities, and systematic withdrawals from invested assets. This essay discusses the pros and cons of various retirement income generators and the issues with constructing retirement income portfolios.

Description: The 1990s saw the rise of many types of variable investment products within the life insurance industry. It was only natural that hedging strategies and products would emerge in response to the inherent risk of loss of value in variable life and annuity products. This article explains a 21st-century twist on the concept for annuities, the Enhanced Earnings Death Benefit EEDB Rider.

Description: Article from The Actuary, March 1986 – Volume No. 20, Issue No. 3 that is a brief description of one of the fastest growing segments of the life insurance industry - the so-called Settlement Annuity.

Description: Recent guidance in the form of Rev. Proc. 2006- 13 provides a general safe harbor for the fair market value of a deferred-annuity contract when determining the amount includible in income on conversion of a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

Description: The article analyzes Private Letter Ruling 202031008, which considers how Internal Revenue Code sections 72(q) and (u) apply to an annuity contract issued to a trust. In particular, the Ruling interprets the terms “taxpayer,” “holder” and “held by” in those Code sections in situations where a non-qualified deferred annuity contract is issued to a grantor trust or a non-grantor trust. The Ruling’s analysis and conclusions differ in some respects depending on which of these types of trusts is involved. In addition, although the Ruling does not address sections 72(s) or 72(e)(4)(C), the Ruling has potential implications under those provisions because they also use the term “holder” and “holds,” respectively.

Description: This essay advocates that the transition from DB to DC plans won't be complete until plan sponsors offer programs of retirement income in their DC plans. The essay discusses the relevant actuarial and behavioral issues.

Description: A review of the last 50 years, concluding that the insurance industry in Canada has been slow to react to consumers' shift in focus from long-term security to rate of return.

Description: This is an article about how to place value on an annuity benefit.

Description: The article discusses PLR 201632004, which addresses the partial annuitization rules of IRC section 72(a)(2) in the context of a deferred income annuity rider attached to a variable deferred annuity contract.