It’s been a busy week here at Golden Retirement with some exciting things coming up soon. So my opportunity to read has been a bit limited. But I believe it’s important to always stay on top of what’s going on the industry, and what’s being said about retirement planning.

Here are two pieces that happened to catch my eye this week.

How investing retirement money is different

Diversifying your investment portfolio in retirement is necessary, but not sufficient. A retiree needs to further consider allocation to other “investments” that hedge actuarial risks, like longevity, disability and death, or that maximize after-tax income.

Once these risks are protected against, portfolios can be invested more aggressively. But without that protection, investors are risking everything, and that’s just not a safe position to be in.

American Retirees Might Be Under-Annuitized

While I agree with the conclusion that retirees don’t use income annuities as much as they should, I disagree with the explanation.

Under-annuitization is a function of a clear misunderstanding by advisors about how, when and where income annuities should be integrated into retirement portfolios.

It is our intention to become the organization that can give retirees the information they’re lacking so that they can make well-informed decisions about market-based investments and annuity income.