Free Insurance Guide

01/27/12

The cancer drug Avastin was recently discovered to have a beneficial effect for those undergoing chemotherapy prior to breast cancer surgery.

The study showed that taking Avastin before undergoing chemotherapy might increase the chance that all cancer will be removed via surgery. However, two other studies that looked at which patients might benefit most from Avastin resulted in neither study being able to yet determine whether Avastin, sometime referred to as bevacizumab, would improve survival rates.

“The bevacizumab story is not done. The addition of Avastin to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in women with operable breast cancer increased the rate of women having the disappearance of their breast cancer at the time of surgery,” Dr.

Read more…

Published in the AGE review, the official journal of the American Aging Association, new data analysis shows the best male marathon runners age 65 and over and the best female marathon runners age 45 and over have consistently improved their performance over the past 20 years.

Researchers concluded that, over the past two decades, the performance of both male and female marathon runners in this demographic have improved notably, but their younger peers have remained roughly the same.

“The improved performances can be explained by the increased number of participants in these age categories, as well as the increased interest this age population has in terms of the benefits of physical activity on health and well being,” said Romuald Lepers, noted for his research into motor function plasticity during aging, which was part of the report published in AGE by the Inserm Unit 1093.

Staying active is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle.

Read more…

Usually, we think of a pension lasting for the duration of a person’s retirement .  With annuities, you have more options available than that.

To learn what features are common to most or all types of annuity pension, see the page on annuity pensions in general.

A life annuity is the type of annuity most people understand.  Your pension continues paying from the day you trigger it until your death.

The risk inherent in life annuities is that you might die early .  In a way, that’s a good thing: the purpose of annuities is insurance against the financial hazard of living too long.  From that point of view, life annuities offer great security.

A period certain annuity provides an income for a fixed period of time.  If the annuitant dies before the pension expires , the pension pays to the annuitant’s heir.

The danger of period certain annuities is that you might live much longer than you expected and therefore can run out of income.  That’s the very nature of the hazard of having no pension at all, isn’t it?  However, the annuity owner has the security of knowing that his investment will have some return—something that’s not guaranteed by a life annuity.

This option creates a hybrid between life annuities and period certain annuities.  A life annuity with a period certain option will pay either to the end of the annuitant’s life or for a certain period, whichever is longer.

Cash refund annuities are another variation on the standard life annuity.  They guarantee an income until the annuitant’s death, but if at the time of death the total pension issued is less than the cost basis , then the difference is refunded to the annuitant’s estate.

Similar to cash refund annuities, installment refund annuities issue a refund in the event that the annuitant dies before receiving a pension at least equal to the cost of the annuity.  Whereas cash refund annuities issue a refund as a lump sum, however, the refund from a life annuity with an installment refund option is issued in a series of payments.

Annuities with a joint-and-survivor option have two annuitants; your pension doesn’t cease until both of them are dead.  Joint-and-survivor annuities are designed for spouses, to ensure that the needed income is available even in the event that one dies long before the other.

You might well expect that if one of the spouses dies, the remaining spouse could get by on a smaller pension, and joint-and-survivor annuities can accommodate that.  You can cut the cost of your annuity if you buy one which pays a lower pension following the first death.

Income annuities are created and sold by life insurance companies.  Compare annuity rates online or call us at 1-800-823-4852 to get started now.

We are eager to answer your questions and learn your needs.

Most commonly, an income annuity is a financial product which provides a constant stream of income.

Usually, the person who receives the income stream is the same person that purchased the annuity .  Usually the income stream lasts for the duration of the annuitant’s life.  Usually the owner makes a series of payments into the annuity before starting the pension.

The purpose of income annuities is financial protection in case an individual lives longer than he/she had expected.  With humans living longer and savings being weakened by fiscal policies worldwide, a person who lives longer than expected may find him/herself out of money and too old to work.

A life annuity, which provides a constant income for the remainder of the annuitant’s life, is the default.  Also available are annuities that pay a certain stipend for a fixed time period or until a certain fund is exhausted.  You can even elect for your annuity to mix two of the foregoing concepts, guaranteed a lifetime income or income of a certain duration—whichever lasts longer.

Read about the different annuity pension types.

Annuities aren’t just for people planning for the future.  If your retirement starts now and you need an income, there’s an annuity product for you.  Immediate annuities require the payment of only a single premium and begin to pay a pension shortly thereafter .

The other type of annuity—the one which is paid for through premiums—is known as a deferred annuity.  You get a bigger bang for your buck with deferred annuities because your annuity builds value through compound interest during its deferment period.  You can prolong the deferment period as long as you like, provided that you manage to pay the minimum required premiums.  When you are ready to begin your pension, notify your agent and stop paying premiums.

Immediate income annuities do not have an accumulation phase; you make a single payment, and your annuity pension begins paying off in a year or less.    Immediate income annuities are more commonly referred to as simply “immediate annuities” or “SPIAs” . 

The pension for an immediate income annuity may be lifelong or fixed period or offer guarantees of both varieties .  They may offer cash back guarantees if the duration of the pension is so short that the annuitant does not recover the cost of the annuity.  For detailed descriptions of your different options, see the types of annuity pension.

Suppose you’ve got a nest egg saved and you’d like to ensure that it lasts for the rest of your life.  Immediate income annuities are intended for people who are on the verge of retiring or who have retired.  Immediate income annuities can make that nest egg stretch as far as it needs to.

A deferred annuity tends to offer bigger pension payments than an immediate annuity does, but people aren’t always ready to plan for retirement with an annuity in advance.

If you don’t need an explanation, you can simply compare SPIA rates online.

On the one hand, the annuity can cost as much as you want: if you have half a million dollars saved up, you can put it all into an annuity.  On the other hand, you may start with an idea of how much you’ll need from your annuity and evaluate cost from there.

The cost of your SPIA depends on the size of the pension you need.  The size of your annuity pension is composed of how large your payments will be and how long you will receive payments.  You tell the seller the size of the pension payments you require , and the seller evaluates your life expectancy to predict the duration of your annuity pension.  The longer you are likely to live, the more expensive your annuity will be.