Products May 30, 2019

AXA Files for Annuity Exchange Offer

The offer is being made to participants in a small number of plans in which the plan sponsor has decided to no longer allow contributions to the EQUI-VEST variable annuity and to make the AXA Retirement 360 Defined Contribution Program available as an option.

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In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. has announced an offer for certain participants in the AXA Retirement 360 Defined Contribution Program to be able to exchange some or all of their EQUI-VEST variable annuity holdings for one of the program’s mutual fund options without imposing a withdrawal charge.

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The offer is being made to participants in a small number of plans in which the plan sponsor has decided to no longer allow contributions to the EQUI-VEST variable annuity and to make AR360 available as an option. In order to allow these changes, AXA is required to file with the SEC.

In the filing, AXA notes that if a participant chooses to move assets from the EQUI-VEST annuity contract to a mutual fund offered under the program, they will lose the guaranteed benefits associated with the variable annuity.

AXA’s launch of the AXA Retirement 360 Defined Contribution Program in 2017 provides more choice and flexibility to plan sponsors and participants.

AXA Retirement 360 is an open architecture defined contribution (DC) mutual fund program designed for 401(k), 403(b), 457(b) and 401(a) plans. It features access to the broad mutual fund marketplace as well as a non-mutual fund option for retirement certainty with the AXA Fixed Account through a group fixed annuity from AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company.
Data and Research May 29, 2019

Lack of Emergency Savings Among Biggest Financial Regrets

More than half of Americans are disappointed with their overall savings, according to a new Bankrate.com survey, including 27% who wish they had started saving earlier for retirement and 19% who lament not saving enough for emergencies.

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A new survey from Bankrate.com suggests three in four Americans say they have serious financial regrets.

In this group, the survey data shows, more than half (56%) are disappointed with their overall savings, including 27% who wish they had started saving earlier for retirement, 19% who lament not saving enough for emergencies and 10% who say they have not saved enough for their child’s education.

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Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.com, observes that a failure to save adequately for retirement was the most commonly cited regret of all surveyed Americans (21%). Baby Boomers were most likely to feel this way (33%), followed by 23% of the Silent Generation (ages 74 and older) and 22% of Generation X.

Given their career stage and the growing price of higher education, Millennials feel the most remorse about their student loan debt (17%). According to Bankrate.com’s survey, their regret is more than twice that of Gen Xers (7%) and more than three times that of Baby Boomers (4%) when it comes to the level of student debt.

McBride notes that Generation X and older Millennials had the highest incidence of regret about not saving enough for emergencies (both at 19%), taking on too much credit card debt (both at 16%), and not saving enough for their child’s education (both at 12%).

“Everyone makes mistakes in life, financial or otherwise,” McBride says. “The key is to acknowledge those blunders and address them, so that there’s minimal damage. Sadly, 21% have no plans to address their financial regrets.”

The Silent Generation and Older Boomers (ages 65 to 73) are the most likely to say they have no financial regrets (37% and 31%, respectively).

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