AIG crisis could be the tip of an insurance iceberg

The company's situation reflects problems throughout the life insurance industry as investments suffer. Further strain could bring about a second financial crisis. When insurance giant American International Group Inc. imploded last fall, the firm's problems were quickly blamed not on its core insurance business but on an obscure operation that traded exotic mortgage securities. But as the economic crisis deepens, it has become clear that AIG's problems extend across most of its business lines, including
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How Well Do You Know... Fixed Annuities?

Back before 2008's cruel lessons about the stock market, many individual investors saw little reason to bone up on boring subjects like fixed-income investments and annuities. And what was less attention-grabbing than the combination of those two topics, the fixed annuity? Nowadays, boring is better to many investors burned in stock mutual funds. Indeed, sales of fixed annuities soared 79% in the fourth quarter, according to consulting firm Limra International. In a recent quiz, we
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Led by New York Life Products, Fixed Annuity Sales Rise 54% in Third Quarter

Buttressed by favorable interest rates and sought by investors looking for shelter from falling equity prices, U.S. fixed annuity sales set a new quarterly record. Led by New York Life Products, Fixed Annuity Sales Rise 54% in Third Quarter Source: Financial-Planning
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Despite the continual upswing of fixed annuity products, a LIMRA International study of consumers between 50 and 75 years old with household incomes of at least 50,000 dollars in
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Life Planning as Part of Retirement Planning

Helping employees build a nest egg is essential, but it's only part of the total retirement planning equation. Longer life spans mean that having a successful retirement takes not just financial planning, but "life planning." However, despite the fact that today's retirees have two or even three decades of active years ahead of them, few really think about how they're going to spend that time and what their retirement will mean for their family. Life
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Lincoln Financial Group Comments on Standard & Poor's Ratings Action (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance)

Lincoln Financial Group today announced that Standard & Poor's affirmed its AA counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York, and revised its outlook for the insurance subsidiaries from positive to stable.
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Pennsylvania Insurance Department Hits Allegheny County Insurance ... MarketWatch - 21 hours ago Lorena Mierau - Philadelphia - $8000 penalty and
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The Fixed Annuity Income Riders

Annuity income riders are designed to provide safety of investment, predictable, guaranteed, lifetime income and peace of mind to people who are worried about running out of money in retirement. The Fixed Annuity Riders Source: Insurance News Net
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Amid growing concerns over abusive sales practices by insurance agents, the Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed to regulate the increasingly popular indexed annuity as a securities product, a move that
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