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Portrait of a Financial Giant

November 2008 - The offspring of a 1998 merger between NationsBank and BankAmerica, Bank of America has grown steadily through acquisition since then.

Bank of America Gains Merrill Lynch's 401(k) Plans and More

November 2008 - With Bank of America's purchase of Merrill Lynch for about $50 billion in mid-September, the bank took a big step toward becoming a force in the retirement industry.

How to Put DB in DC

October 2008 - Imagine a future where 401(k) plan participants go online not to check their accumulations but to view their guaranteed monthly income in retirement.

Guaranteed Income Riders in DC Plans

September 2008 - Insurance company record keepers have begun to provide guaranteed income riders as a new investment choice on their group annuity 401k platforms.

SponsorMatch Puts a Dab of DB in DC Plans

September 2008 - Barclays Global Investors (BGI) and MetLife ask plan participants to think about acquiring future income, rather than the pursuing a lump sum or 'number.'

Nationwide, Simplified

September 2008 - After slipping to 13th place in individual variable annuity sales at the end of 2007, the Columbus, Ohio firm has been both aggressive and imaginative in introducing new products and new marketing campaigns.

The Inherited (Stretch) IRA and The Inherited (Stretch) Annuity

August 2008 - U.S. retirement assets reached $16.4 trillion in 2006, and part of that money will be 'in motion' as individuals leave current employers and retire.

Online Communities Are No Longer Just Kids' Stuff

August 2008 - As the responsibility for financial planning increasingly falls on the individual, the Internet is helping people educate themselves about their savings.

Think Big, Start Small, Scale Fast'

August 2008 - Several big financial services companies have created in-house retirement task forces, but few have made a more aggressive or concerted effort in that direction than Lincoln Financial Group.

Annuities Remain Best Bet For Retirees

June 2008 - Outside of a defined benefit plan, traditional life annuities issued by insurance companies are the best ways to reduce longevity risk for women. Yet few retirees purchase them, according to a recent report entitled, 'Evaluation of Approaches To Reducing Women's Longevity Risk.' The report, by Beverly Orth of Mercer Human Resource Consulting, confirms the conventional wisdom that variable annuities, though popular as tax-deferral vehicles, are almost never annuitized. She attributes that to a lack of education about annuities and the media's negative portrayal of them.

A Crisis with a Gender Bias

June 2008 - The great open secret of the Baby Boomers' retirement crisis is that, if left unaddressed, the impact of the predicted shortfall of retirement income will weigh much more heavily on women than on men.

Longevity Insurance Refuses To Die

May 2008 - Americans just wont buy income annuities, say the variable annuity marketers. But the diehard fans of life-contingent income annuities say: Baloney.

The Big Un-Easy

May 2008 - This spring, four major insurers and a global asset manager jumped into the 401(k) market by offering group annuities that provide guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits.

New Product Issue

May 2008 - The idea of taking income tools out of the annuity context and applying them in new markets is the order of the day.

Teachers Group Creates 403(b) Plan Blueprint: Toolkit Helps School Administrators Adjust to New Regs

March 2008 - The huge burden of meeting new Internal Revenue Service retirement plan regulations just got a lot easier. A national education administration group has simplified the pending regulations governing responsibility of tax-sheltered annuity plans by breaking down the long list of compliance requirements into a step-by-step process.