| Copyright: | Business Wire |
| Source: | Business Wire |
| Wordcount: | unknown |
National Retirement Planning Week Directs Attention to Critical
Phase of Financial Planning
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
New York Life Insurance Company announced today that it is the number
one seller of fixed immediate annuities* for women in 2009, with 64
percent of its record $1.9 billion in sales going to women purchasers.**
Together with its leading market share in these annuities, New York Life
is the number one provider to women.
“Women are making a wise decision to actively ensure their retirement
income needs are in place and the financial strength and peace of mind
that come with this New York Life product is what they seek,” said
Angela Kyle, senior vice president in the company’s Retirement Income
Security division. “Research has continued to identify the increased
need among women to be proactive about planning for their financial
needs in retirement. It is gratifying to see that women are heeding this
guidance and when ready to make the choice, a significant number pick
New York Life.”
One academic paper***, “Lifetime Income for Women: A Financial
Economists Perspective,” found that women’s increased longevity and the
continued demise of traditional pensions put them at risk for outliving
their assets. Traditional advice implored women to invest in high-risk
products to get the higher returns necessary to finance longer
retirement; however, these investment strategies exposed women to
dangerous and unnecessary risk. The study found that lifetime income
annuities, which guarantee payments no matter how long the annuitant
lives, were a safe alternative that could provide retirement income for
less cost and risk than other products.
“Because of an increased life expectancy, women are faced with financing
a substantially longer retirement than men – a healthy
65-year-old woman has a 50% chance of living beyond age 88 and a 25%
chance of living beyond 94.**** This is great news, but with a volatile
stock market and uncertain economy, living well in retirement may seem a
difficult goal,” Kyle said. “This week is National Retirement Planning
Week and we hope that the increased attention to the topic of retirement
planning will encourage others to make smart decisions today to lock in
the retirement lifestyle and security for tomorrow, helping to assure
that retirement years are in fact golden years – safe, secure,
and free of financial worry.”
New York Life has a history of serving the financial needs of women. In
1894, New York Life became the first U.S. insurer to issue life
insurance to women at the same rates as men. At the time, most
life insurers refused to underwrite women at all. The few that did
charged an extra premium.
New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in
1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United
States***** and one of the largest life insurers in the world. New York
Life has the highest possible financial strength ratings from all four
of the major credit rating agencies. Headquartered in New York City, New
York Life’s family of companies offers life insurance, retirement
income, investments and long-term care insurance. New York Life
Investments****** provides institutional asset management and retirement
plan services. Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of
securities products and services, as well as institutional and retail
mutual funds.
Please visit New York Life’s Web sites at www.newyorklife.com,
www.guaranteesmatter.com
or www.newyorklife.com/womenandfinance
for more information.
*Fixed annuities are issued by New York Life Insurance and Annuity
Corporation. Guarantees are backed by the claims paying ability of the
issuing insurer.
**Based on single purchases by women. If joint
purchasers are included, which often includes both males and females
purchasing jointly, women represent 49% of all single purchases. Source:
LIMRA International, U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey, Fourth
Quarter 2009 results. (Note that Fixed Immediates include Fixed Period
Annuities.)
***The paper, “Lifetime
Income for Women: A Financial Economist’s Perspective,” by David F.
Babbel, Ph.D, is based on the academic study, “Rational
Decumulation” co-authored by Professor Babbel and Professor Craig B.
Merrill, both Fellows of the Wharton Financial Institutions Center. New
York Life and Wharton School co-sponsored the paper.
**** Annuity
2000 mortality table
*****New York Life is the largest mutual life
insurance company based on the Fortune 500, ranked within
industries, Insurance: Life, Health (Mutual), Fortune magazine,
posted April 15, 2010.
******New York Life Investments is a
service mark used by New York Life Investment Management Holdings LLC
and its subsidiary, New York Life Investment Management LLC.
New York Life
William Werfelman, 212-576-5385
William_Werfelman@newyorklife.com
or
Sloane
& Company
John Hartz, 857-598-4779
jhartz@sloanepr.com
Source: New York Life Insurance Co.
