Hartford Insurance Co

Should you buy longevity insurance?

With lifespans lengthening, those nearing retirement may want to consider financial protection to guard against the possibility of outliving their money.

It's now increasingly available in the form of longevity insurance, which usually involves giving a sum of money to an insurer in your 60s in exchange for monthly payments that start at 80 or 85 and continue for the rest of your life.

The little-known financial product is gaining new attention at a time when few have pensions and Congress is discussing changes to Social Security that could reduce future benefits. New York Life Insurance Co. began offering a policy in July, joining a handful of others including MetLife, Symetra Financial and The Hartford.

But it's not just about insurance companies looking to make money off aging baby boomers. Retirement experts and some financial advisers say it can make a lot of sense for those who have enough savings to be able to spare a small portion in exchange for future monthly income that they can't outlive.

“This is something that people ought to be thinking about as they approach retirement,” says Anthony Webb, research economist for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Longevity insurance is the relatively new term for an annuity designed to cover the latter years of retirement. An annuity is an investment in which you typically pay an insurance company a lump sum and get back a stream of payments for life.

Certain annuities have sullied the category name for being complex and loaded with fees — mostly variable annuities, where the value can sink with stock market declines. But more financial advisers are touting annuities as a way to receive the guaranteed lifetime income that pensions once provided.

With the longevity annuity, income is fixed and starts at a specified future age, frequently 85.

Under MetLife's “maximum income” version, for example, a woman who buys longevity insurance with a $100,000 lump sum at age 65 could receive annual income of $59,010 starting at 85. That wouldn't be enough to cover a year of nursing home care, but as supplementary income, it would go a long way toward covering living expenses.

My car insurance was canceled due to roommate has a DUI ...

I live in Michigan and I have been advised by Hartford that my car insurance will be canceled in Feb. due to the fact that another person in this household has a DUI. They feel that this person could drive my car with or without my permission. They advised one of us needs to move in order to have the policy reinstated. Is this justified? What can I do?

timdoyle Currently a freshman at a university in Chicagoland. I've had it up to here with the liberalism/anti-Christian daggers being thrown at me, and so I am going to quit. I couldn't care less if it will wind up costing me in the long run in terms of a job someday. I'm a smart kid, FWIW, HS valedictorian, ivy-esque college, but I am a Christian Baptist and cannot ...

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