Insurance
In the current low-rate environment, there is reason to wonder about the viability of banks, insurance companies, and indeed any institution that generally depends on the spread between long- and short-dated liabilities for its profits, says David Schawel, CFA.
Regulation in the financial industry is on the rise. The issue is: does extra regulation reduce the risk of loss?
Not buying insurance for things we can afford to replace or have happen does not mean that those things won’t occur, it just means that instead of having the small bleed of constantly paying premiums for things, we will once in a while be paying out larger replacement amounts for things we did not insure against. However, you should not save on insurance premium payments in instances where you can’t afford the loss.
Annuities are an important and sometimes dominant part of an investment portfolio for millions of savers. But make sure they are worth it.