Market Volatility Threatens Retirement Security

By 2030, all baby boomers will be over the age of 65 and will make up about 20% of the U.S. population. That means for the first time in our nation’s history, there will be more people over the age of 65 than under age 18. That poses enormous economic challenges for the country and individuals. Unfortunately, many Americans lack the resources for a comfortable retirement or skipped crucial planning steps along the way. Now, many new and soon-to-be retirees face dual threats of high inflation and market volatility. Grant Kvalheim, president of Athene talks about how financial professionals can help their clients grow their retirement savings and create guaranteed income in these challenging times.

Please note: This content is intended for financial professionals.

Guest Bio: Grant Kvalheim serves as Athene’s President and CEO of Athene USA Corporation. He is responsible for our overall strategic direction. He leads our U.S. operating companies with a focus on growing our retail annuity, flow reinsurance, and funding agreements businesses.

The Covid pandemic turned the world of work upside down with millions of people losing their jobs and countless other working from home. Now, more than two years later, the new world of work continues to evolve and some retirees, concerned about rising inflation and volatile markets, are returning to work. Workplace futurist Kerry Hannon talks about emerging workplace trends and ways financial professionals can help their clients navigate these uncertain times. From working remotely to building new skills through lifelong learning to launching a business, Hannon discussed how financial professionals can help older clients take control of their future, their finances and their retirement.

Please note: This content is intended for financial professionals.

Guest Bio: Kerry Hannon is a workplace futurist and strategist on career transitions, entrepreneurship, personal finance and retirement. She is a frequent TV, radio and podcast commentator and is a sought-after keynote speaker. Kerry is currently a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance and an on-air expert. She was formerly an expert columnist, opinion writer and regular contributor to The New York Times, MarketWatch, Forbes, and a personal finance and entrepreneurship expert on the PBS website NextAvenue.org.

Millions of American retirees and near retirees are particularly vulnerable as withdrawing funds from a shrinking nest egg during their early retirement years can threaten portfolio longevity. Annuities can deliver the stable income that retirees crave, but how exactly do they it? Laurence Black, founder of the Index Standard, helps us look under the hood of some of the latest annuity offering to explain how the strategic use of various financial indices can create reliable streams of retirement income.

Please note: This content is intended for financial professionals.

Guest Bio: 

Laurence Black is the founder of The Index Standard® and an index advisor to Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University. Before founding The Index Standard®, Laurence was a Managing Director and Head of Quantitative Indices and Strategies at Barclays where he oversaw the development of the Barclays index family. In addition to designing some of the first smart beta/factor indices, Laurence spearheaded Barclays' index partnerships with Professors Robert Shiller and Nouriel Roubini, as well as Novus Partners.

Before Barclays, Laurence was Head of Indices at ABN AMRO in London, where he successfully launched indices with well-known investors such as Jim Rogers and Joel Greenblatt. Before ABN AMRO, Laurence worked at Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse.

Laurence holds an MBA from the University of Warwick and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Cape Town. When not thinking about financial matters, he can mostly be found on a tennis court.

Millions of baby boomers are retired or preparing to retire. But after a decade of strong market performance, near zero interest rates and low inflation, today’s retirees face new challenges: the highest inflation in 40 years coupled with volatile markets against a backdrop of longer lifespans. Guest Mike Downing, chief operating officer of Athene, shares his insights of how older Americans can stretch their savings and stabilize their income over a retirement that could last 30 years or more.

Please note: This content is intended for financial professionals.

Guest Bio: Michael S. Downing serves as Athene’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Actuary. He is responsible for overseeing global actuarial valuation, modeling, pricing, product development, and product go-to-market.

Despite progress made in recent decades, women continue to be at greater risk of not achieving a financially secure retirement than men, in large part due to the gender pay gap and time out of the workforce for parenting and caregiving. Covid has made that situation worse. Tired of juggling work responsibilities and family caregiving duties during the pandemic, many women simply gave up and joined the Great Resignation. With Mary Beth to discuss how Covid has affected the outlook for women’s retirement security is Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of the Transamerica Institute and its Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

Today, women control a third of total U.S. household financial assets. That’s more than $10 trillion. But over the next decade, large sums of money are expected to change hands, driven mainly by demographics as women inherit assets from parents and spouses, through divorce settlements, and by investing their own hard-earned savings. These changes represent a critical inflection point for the financial services industry. When affluent women take over financial decision-making for a household, they typically seek out new wealth management relationships to suit their needs. With Mary Beth to discuss how to work with women investors, particularly when the female is the primary decision-maker in a couple, is Allison Schmidt of Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies in Denver.

Guest bio: Allison Schmidt is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and CPA* at Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies.  She co-founded Higgins & Schmidt with Steven Higgins in 2010.  Allie works with a select group of individuals and families to create and develop tax-efficient financial strategies.  Allie enjoys working closely with clients to assess their full financial picture to make sure each and every piece is working together.  This elevated level of client communication is the cornerstone of the Higgins & Schmidt process, and Allie takes pride in the recognition that Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies has received for this client-first based approach.

Prior to co-founding Higgins & Schmidt Wealth Strategies, Allie began building her practice in 2008 as a financial advisor literally one step at a time, knocking on doors with Edward Jones Investments.  Prior to that, she paid her dues as a financial statement auditor with Deloitte & Touche, LLP. Allie is originally from Kankakee, IL and graduated from Butler University in Indianapolis where she was a member of the Butler Bulldogs women’s basketball team.  March Madness is a very big deal around the Schmidt house. Allie and her wife, Stacy, live in the Highlands neighborhood in Northwest Denver with their two daughters, Wesley & Charley, and Wheaten Terrier, Bailey.  When not in the office, Allie is usually outside with her family and friends, if not playing hide-and-seek, enjoying the many activities that the beautiful Colorado landscape has to offer usually capped off with an ice cold craft beer.