When meeting with clients to discuss their risk tolerances and explore potential “what-if” scenarios, you’ll likely uncover many concerns. Topping the list of possible threats to someone’s nest egg will undoubtedly be market downturns, healthcare costs, or even outliving their retirement savings.

So, this article’s headline grabbed you, and you want a knock-down battle between bonds and annuities. We’ll get there, but let’s first take a moment to review why having some guaranteed sources of lifetime income (in addition to Social Security) is often recommended by financial advisors.¹

The population of Americans age 75 and over is projected to double by 2040.¹ That’s even after taking into account that life expectancy numbers have dropped slightly for three straight years (mostly due to upticks in drug overdoses and suicides).² The fact is that more and more Americans will reach advanced ages.

Today, another 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn age 65 — and tomorrow, and the next day…and again for many years to come, according to Forbes.¹ With that large influx of people potentially entering retirement and exiting the workforce, the country’s composition is dramatically changing, and a larger number of people are beginning to draw on their retirement savings.

Not that long ago, the University of Oxford predicted that robots and automation would threaten nearly 50% of the U.S. workforce.¹ If the current skilled labor shortage is any indication, their calculations have yet to prove true.

The numbers are real, and they’re likely affecting a number of your clients: 56% of Americans lose their jobs (layoffs or other involuntary causes) between age 50 and retirement. Of that number, only 10% ever earn as much as they previously did.¹ Even if these workers accept a sizable buyout package, they’re now jobless usually well before they planned to leave the workforce.

As recently as two decades ago, retirement was seen by many as a fixed, reliable life milestone. You reached a certain age and immediately shifted into relaxation mode. Today, however, retirement looks and feels different. A new career choice is common, some may pursue hobbies, or a retiree could dedicate a majority of time to volunteering.

For retirees, the fear of losing any portion of their retirement savings is very real. Everyone in the market would love a guarantee on their return. Unfortunately, there are few guarantees when it comes to investing, especially when factoring in market turbulence, a fluctuating economy and meager interest rates. Annuities with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) rider can be appealing to clients approaching retirement because, as the name implies, the rider insures the investment and minimizes risk.

MADISON, Wis. – CUNA Mutual Group today announced the launch of Zone Income Annuity, which includes features that address all phases of retirement, including a protected lifetime income feature that locks in a minimum income stream to the policyholder for life. The new product also expands choices of investment indexes to which holders can link performance to include the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 and the MSCI EAFE.

Following growth of 3.1% in Q1 of this year, U.S. real GDP expanded at an estimated annual rate of only 2% in Q2. The slowdown can be attributed primarily to the effects of the escalating tariff war with China. Another factor at work: strong growth in household and service sector spending was partially offset by a weakness in manufacturing and business investment spending. Although the current U.S. economic expansion is the longest in American history (beginning in 2009), it still is subject to a basic principle of business cycle theory: Expansion cycles do not die of old age but rather because of spreading excesses and imbalances within the economy that undermine the economy’s natural tendency toward growth.