Why Americans Hate Annuities

David McKnight explores one of the most fascinating and misunderstood topics: Retirement planning annuities.

In the article Annuitization Puzzles, Economics Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler tries to answer a deceptively simple question: If annuities are so good at protecting retirees from outliving their money, why don't more people buy them?

Thaler, one of the founding fathers of behavioral economics, coined the phrase "the annuity puzzle" to describe a striking contradiction between theory and real life.

According to traditional economic models, the rational choice would be for retirees to annuitize at least some portion of their wealth – yet, only very few Americans go out and buy a pure life annuity.

The answers to this contradiction are almost entirely psychological.

Loss aversion, loss of control, complexity and distrust, fear of disinheriting errors, underestimating longevity risks are the key reasons why that happens.

David points out that most retirees believe they won't live as long as they actually will;they underestimate the probability of living into their 90s.

"The Annuity Puzzle exists because economics assumes we're rational, while real retirees behave like human beings. They're  driven by emotions, fears, and biases, not economic data," says David.

Remember not all annuities are created equal.

David touches upon the key differences between immediate and fixed index annuities.

Did you know that, while they aren't stock market replacements, fixed index annuities (FIAs) make for excellent bond alternatives?

Furthermore, FIAs do resolve the flexibility and liquidity concerns many retirees face.  

In his book Tax-Free Income for Life: A Step-by-Step Plan for a Secure Retirement, David discusses what he considers the most powerful innovation in the annuity space today – he shares more about it in this episode.

What he discusses isn't the old single premium immediate annuity you may be familiar with… rather, he illustrates a modern retirement income engine that blends the science of risk pooling with the tax-free advantages of Roth planning.

Mentioned in this episode:

David's new book, available now for pre-order: The Secret Order of Millionaires

David's national bestselling book: The Guru Gap: How America's Financial Gurus Are Leading You Astray, and How to Get Back on Track

Tax-Free Income for Life: A Step-by-Step Plan for a Secure Retirement by David McKnight

DavidMcKnight.com

DavidMcKnightBooks.com

PowerOfZero.com (free video series)

@mcknightandco on Twitter 

@davidcmcknight on Instagram

David McKnight on YouTube

Get David's Tax-free Tool Kit at taxfreetoolkit.com

Annuitization Puzzles by Richard Thaler, Shlomo Benartzi, and Alessandro Previtero

S&P 500

Penguin Random House