After years of adding innumerable bells and whistles to annuities to attract investors, insurance carriers have begun to prune their offerings—not just to simplify them but to reduce their indemnification, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Downside protection against losses to guarantee minimum payouts has cost insurance companies dearly after the downturn of 2008 into 2009. Now, many products are pared back, instead catering to Baby Boomers’ fears about inflation.
Some of the new offerings automatically place 30% of an investor’s money into bonds, and rather than guarantee minimum annual boosts of 7%, many of the new annuity contracts hitting the market only offer 5%.
