My Comment: As a financial planner for many, many years, I’ve watched my clients age along with me. As the years have passed, our priorities have changed, our resources have changed, along with our fears and worries. There are dozens and dozens of answers out there and while the internet has made it easier to find the best answer, it has also created confusion and the opportunity for serious mistakes.

As someone committed to finding answers for my clients and evaluating choices to make intelligent recommendations, the above headline cought my attention. Up to now, the only way I knew to satisfy the need for a “guaranteed” lifetime income was with an annuity. But once you give your money to an insurance company, your ability to reach in and get it and use it for unexpected needs is severely limited.

The alternative has been to invest the money in a variety of traditional or non-traditional investments. This means that you can reach in and take money out from time to time but there are no guarantees. I need to find out more about this, as it would be a wonderful addition to the answers I’m already able to provide my clients. I’ll appreciate an email from anyone who can help.

By William H. Byrnes, Esq., Robert Bloink, Esq., LL.M.

Guaranteed lifetime income is increasingly important for retirees in a post-pension world. But the primary vehicle for guaranteed benefits–annuities–can be a hard sell for many investors. It seems that every other day an article panning annuities is published in the mainstream media; and regardless of whether these attacks are unwarranted or uninformed, they have a real effect on those who need the protection of lifetime income the most.

Enter Stand-Alone Living Benefits.

The Basics

SALB offer a guaranteed stream of income without purchasing a traditional annuity. The product acts like an insurance policy on an investment account, with income benefits kicking in if the account is depleted during the insured’s lifetime. The product is sometimes referred to as a “hybrid annuity” product, although it is not an annuity in the traditional sense.

Here is how they work. The investor places assets in an investment account that is eligible for coverage by SALB. The SALB provide a 4% to 8% lifetime income guarantee, calculated over the Retirement Income Base–essentially the account value–in place when the SALB are purchased.

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