Top annuity rates have declined slightly over the last month. Long-term Treasury yields were largely unchanged. While annuity rates from the top-paying insurers declined slightly, most insurers held rates steady.
Yields have come down a bit in the first few trading days of 2020 in the aftermath of the death of Iran’s Qasem Soleimani. Typically, Treasury prices rise and yields fall (they move inversely to one another) when investors want to reduce risk, since they are a safe haven asset. When investors get nervous, they like to reduce their risk, moving out of riskier assets like equities and into safer assets like Treasuries. When more people want an asset, the price increases, thus making the yield less attractive. You can get more details regarding current rates in our Annuity Intelligence Report.
Here’s our monthly annuity intelligence report with pricing updated as of January 1. And you can click on links below to see the latest pricing and product selection.
If (1) your fixed annuity has reached the end of its guaranteed rate period; (2) your indexed or variable annuity isn’t doing what you’d anticipated it would; or (3) your investment objective is different today than it was when you purchased the annuity, you might be considering an annuity exchange. There are seven important things to keep in mind when considering and executing an annuity exchange, writes my business partner and our CEO Matt Carey on Forbes.com. You can view the article here.
Watch out for a more detailed account of what the SECURE Act means in the coming weeks, but for now keep in mind one very important implication: the IRS-mandated Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from your qualified accounts (Traditional IRA or 401(k)) can now start later – at age 72 rather than age 70. The RMD withdrawal rates are also likely to be updated soon with the net effect of reducing RMDs. Retirement income expert Jamie Hopkins has an article in Forbes on the topic, which you can read here.
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It continues to be a wild ride in the financial markets. You’d think that trade war fears and some soft recent macroeconomic data would push markets lower. But that’s not what has happened at all. The stock market had its best first half of the year in recent memory. And bond prices have risen to … <a href="https://www.blueprintincome.com/resources/retirement-101/january-2020-annuity-rates-and-market-update/">Continued</a>
This past Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25% to a targeted range of 1.50% – 1.75%. The move was widely expected by financial markets and the reaction was muted. This is the third straight rate cut. On October 30, the Fed cut rates, continuing the downward pattern in short-term interest rates that … <a href="https://www.blueprintincome.com/resources/retirement-101/january-2020-annuity-rates-and-market-update/">Continued</a>
There were steep declines in longer-term Treasury yields in March, largely precipitated by the Fed’s comments that they were less likely than previously assumed to raise rates this year, next year, and even in 2021.