Insights
Short articles on retirement paychecks, independence, care, and when not to move a contract. Educational PDFs sit below.
Articles
New pieces appear here as they are written. Education, not a product pitch.
October 2026 · 8 min
A retiring couple, $800,000, and a 40% decline in year one. The guaranteed income does not change. A matching withdrawal from a portfolio is gone by year 11. An illustration of sequence-of-returns risk — not a product quote.
September 2026 · 9 min
Term life pays a death benefit if you die during the term. No cash value, no investment component. The work is choosing the amount, the length, and the contract terms before you buy.
September 2026 · 8 min
A lifetime income rider on a fixed indexed annuity is built for one fear: running out of money before running out of life. The mechanics of turning a portion of savings into a paycheck that continues as long as you do.
September 2026 · 7 min
Same need — a care month that can undo a household. Two insurance designs. Different cost, underwriting, and what is left if you never file a claim.
September 2026 · 7 min
A care rider on an FIA is still insurance — a way to fund help without emptying a spouse’s savings, and without turning the contract into a market bet.
September 2026 · 6 min
How this Westfield insurance practice starts with the bills that do not go away — not a model portfolio.
September 2026 · 8 min
A hybrid is not one product. It is a life policy or an annuity with a care rider — and the rider’s rules decide whether the design actually pays when a spouse needs help.
September 2026 · 8 min
A living-benefit rider can turn part of a fixed indexed annuity into lifetime income without forcing you to annuitize. The fee, the benefit base, and the withdrawal rate are the contract — not the brochure headline.
September 2026 · 7 min
A five-year CD APY and a five-year MYGA rate look comparable. They are not the same promise, the same tax, or the same backstop. Here is how to line them up without a brochure in the way.
September 2026 · 7 min
A CD is a bank deposit. A fixed indexed annuity is an insurance contract. Comparing them is useful — if you compare the actual features, not the sales slogan.
September 2026 · 7 min
The claiming age you choose locks in a benefit that can last decades. Treat it as a decision, not a default.
September 2026 · 8 min
Accumulation and income are different jobs. Here are the approaches retirees actually use — and the tradeoffs of each.
August 2026 · 6 min
Retirement is not a balance. It is a monthly problem. Guaranteed income is how some households make that problem smaller.
July 2026 · 5 min
Leaving the securities world is a specialization, not a demotion. Here is what that choice is for.
June 2026 · 7 min
Asset-based life and annuity designs that can pay for care — and still leave something if care is never used.
May 2026 · 5 min
A tax-free exchange of an existing annuity or life contract is a tool — not a reason to move money for its own sake.
Educational guides
These pieces are for education. Enter your email to download — Ted may follow up. They are not a recommendation of any product. Guarantees depend on the issuing insurer.
