Immediate Fixed Annuities are path to retirement security and success

Jonathan Clements, a longtime financial columnist and author of books on personal finance, said the "plain-vanilla immediate fixed annuity" is an excellent way to finance retirement, particularly when combined with delayed Social Security benefits. "If you reach retirement age and want regular income and to hedge against outliving your money, buying an immediate fixed annuity could be a smart purchase," he says. (Retirement Security Smart Brief, October 10, 2018). read the full interview by Jane Wollman Rusoff.

Jonathan Clements was a Wall Street Journal personal finance columnist for 20 years, is author of eight finance books, and founder of HumbleDollar.com — serving up a blog, guide and newsletter.

To quote Clements from the article:
"If clients are thinking about making money last through retirement, a combination of delayed Social Security benefits and an immediate fixed annuity could indeed ensure that they’re less likely to outlive their money. The longevity risk is a real risk."

About annuities:
"Unfortunately, the term 'annuity' has an extremely bad name. That’s mostly because of some really atrocious products, specifically, variable annuities with high annual expenses and equity-indexed annuities. But the plain-vanilla immediate fixed annuity is a great product. If you reach retirement age and want regular income and to hedge against outliving your money, buying an immediate fixed annuity could be a smart purchase. However, this is a product that financial advisors don’t tend to sell, in part, because the commissions tend to be very low."
Read the full interview at: https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2018/10/08/jonathan-clements-fund-fees-have-dropped-advisor-f/?slreturn=20180918224750