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From Free Money to 5% CDs — and Back Toward Normal Few decades in modern history have tested investor psychology quite like the 2020s. The early years brought zero-interest policies and pandemic-era stimulus that sent asset prices soaring. Then came the fastest rate-hiking cycle in forty years, reshaping everything from[Read More…]
After 35 years in the financial services industry, I thought I understood retirement. I’d spent decades helping to build products, design plans, and shape strategies meant to guide others through it. Yet when I finally stepped away myself, I discovered something no chart or model could show: the second half[Read More…]
From Free Money to 5% CDs — and Back Toward Normal Few decades in modern history have tested investor psychology quite like the 2020s. The early years brought zero-interest policies and pandemic-era stimulus that sent asset prices soaring. Then came the fastest rate-hiking cycle in forty years, reshaping everything from[Read More…]
The Interest Rate Dilemma Facing Retirees Fixed annuities have become an attractive option again, with yields not seen in more than a decade. After spending much of the 2010s below 4%, average multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) rates climbed into the mid-5% to low-6% range in 2023–25—levels last seen before the financial crisis. That[Read More…]
Interest rates have dominated client conversations for the past two years — and with good reason. After a long stretch of near-zero yields, the recent surge has reshaped everything from bond ladders to annuity payouts. Now, as the Federal Reserve nears the end of its tightening cycle, many clients are[Read More…]
When it comes to retirement income, it’s not just how much clients earn — it’s when they earn it. Sequence of returns risk remains one of the most critical and misunderstood forces in retirement planning. Even if a portfolio averages a solid 6% return over time, early-period losses can dramatically shorten how long income lasts once withdrawals begin. The recent bull market[Read More…]
Few generations have lived through as many economic pivots as Generation X. Born roughly between 1965 and 1980, they’ve seen pensions fade, markets boom and bust, and retirement planning shift almost entirely onto their own shoulders. Now entering their late 40s to early 60s, Gen Xers are at the front[Read More…]
After 35 years in the financial services industry, I thought I understood retirement. I’d spent decades helping to build products, design plans, and shape strategies meant to guide others through it. Yet when I finally stepped away myself, I discovered something no chart or model could show: the second half[Read More…]
Interest rates have dominated client conversations for the past two years — and with good reason. After a long stretch of near-zero yields, the recent surge has reshaped everything from bond ladders to annuity payouts. Now, as the Federal Reserve nears the end of its tightening cycle, many clients are[Read More…]
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — AllianceBernstein L.P. (AB) today announced it will provide another approach to delivering lifetime income to Defined Contribution (DC) plan participants with a new edition of AB’s Secure Income Portfolio (SIP). Through an allocation to a fixed annuity, it delivers a consistent stream of guaranteed income,[Read More…]
