Sponsors, Participants Warming Up to Guaranteed Income Options

A study found an increase in the number of retirement plan participants electing an in-plan guaranteed income option.

LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute calculated that 3 million participants have access to an in-plan income guarantee through their employee-sponsored retirement plan in 2014, a 32% increase from 2013.   

In addition, there was a 24% rise in the number of participants electing an in-plan guarantee, to reach 71,300 in 2014. In 2014, the number of retirement plans offering in-plan guarantees grew by 41%, totaling 33,500, and more than 132 billion in assets are in plans that offer an in-plan guarantee, up 27% compared with 2013.

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The study found small plans (with less than $10 million in assets) are most likely to offer in-plan guarantees. In 2014, 31,000 small plans, 1,900 mid-size plans ($10 to 199 million in assets), and 80 large/mega plans ($200 million and more) offered in-plan guarantees to their workers. Smaller plans are more likely to offer in-plan income guarantees because the early in-plan guarantee products were developed by life insurers, which tend to be in the small and mid-size markets, LIMRA says. 

Total assets covered by an in-plan guarantee reached $3.6 billion, a 26% increase over last year. The average amount covered per participant is $50,000.

Prior LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute research reveals that consumers are most concerned about having enough money to last throughout their retirement. Eight out of 10 U.S. workers believe employers should provide ways to convert savings into retirement income. Younger workers are particularly interested in this option, with 90% of workers ages 18 to 34 saying they somewhat or strongly agree that employers should provide avenues to convert savings into income at retirement.

A guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) and deferred income annuities (DIA) are the two types of in-plan guarantees currently sold in retirement plans, according to LIMRA. These products allow participants in retirement plans to protect some of their savings to provide future retirement income while they are still working and contributing to their plans.

A Little Friday File Fun

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, incumbent Councilwoman Barbara Daly Danko defeated her opponent, Caroline Mitchell, 5,575 to 4,015, for a seat on the Allegheny County Council. However, Daly Danko died from cancer May 6. “It was a sympathy vote for Daly Danko,” said Nancy Mills, chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee, according to Reuters. Jared Barker, the county council’s chief clerk and director of legislative services, said the council is expected to appoint someone in the next month to fill Daly Danko’s seat until November, when voters will pick someone to fill the remainder of her term.

In Sarasota, Florida, a woman awoke one morning to find a strange man asleep on the couch in her living room. She asked what he was doing there and threatened to call police. The man apologized and left. According to the Associated Press, the woman then noticed her wallet, driver’s license, credit and debit cards and some checks were missing from a table in the living room. She called police, who were able to arrest the man a short time later.

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In Camas, Washington, police were called to a lake when someone saw an SUV cruising around with a large tiger on its roof. When an officer arrived, he found the tiger was stuffed. The driver said he saw another car dump some trash and the tiger and thought it would be a fun joke to put it on the roof of his car. According to the Associated Press, the driver said he and the officer traded jokes and photos and the officer left.

In Levittown, Pennsylvania, a man and his wife were holding a Sweet 16 birthday party for his stepdaughter with about 40 guests. He said the party was ruined when apparent human waste fell from the sky. “Out of nowhere, from the sky, comes a bunch of fe.ces, lands on her,” the man told WTXF-TV. A canopy was the main target of the dump, but it landed on the birthday girl and some guests. The birthday girl’s sister used a smartphone app to discover there were three airplanes in the sky near the party at the time of the incident, according to UPI. The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident is being investigated.

Remember phone booths? This will make you feel old.

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An excessive popcorn popper.

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How to prevent running-shoe blisters, or ‘what the extra hole in your sneakers is for.’

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