081 Tom Hegna: Mortality Credits Drive The Income Train

About Fun With Annuities Episode #81

It’s great to have Tom Hegna back on the FWA podcast to talk about how "Mortality Credits" are the key to lifetime income pricing with annuities. He told a great story that simply explained how mortality credits work. It involved elderly ladies taking a trip and pooling their money. It was classic Tom Hegna and the best explanation I've heard to explain the transfer of risk value proposition of lifetime income annuities.  Tom has recently updated his classic book, Paychecks & Playchecks, which we dove into once again to explain why people almost have to consider lifetime income annuities as part of their overall plan.

Tom dives in with this, "The evidence is overwhelming that the people with annuities live longer. Because they have less stress, they worry less, they’re being paid to live so many of them live differently - they watch what they eat, they exercise, they call the doctor. All these little things cause them to tend to live longer. "

I call Tom the "Soothsayer of Retirement Income Planning." Because when he explains how income annuities work, it makes total sense. We discussed why annuity sales are growing despite perceived low-interest rates and the current trend of 401k plans adding income annuity choices. To Tom, it is all about the math of annuity income guarantees and how math and science work with contractual annuity guarantees.  Tom also covers the Sequence of Return risks and how annuities can contractually smooth out those rough edges.

You are going to love this Tom Hegna podcast. Every single one he does with us is pure GOLD and worth listening to more than once. Get planning!

CLICK HERE>> in case you missed his first appearance episode #68

In this episode, The Annuity Man and Tom Hegna discuss:

• Mortality credits: the secret sauce of annuities
• Trends in life expectancy
• Predicting the economy and preparing for market downs
• Making healthy choices for a happy retirement

Key Takeaways:

• The mortality credits are probably the highest that we’re going to see for the rest of our lives, there’s no better time to get annuities than right now.
• In the previous pandemic, we saw a rise in life expectancy after the end of it as it forced technology and medicine to progress to help people survive - so it might very well be how this current pandemic will shape the future. In the same vein, life expectancy is longer for people with annuities.
• Hope for the best, plan for the worst and have a happy retirement! Get multiple annuities, expose only a minimum amount of your portfolio to crypto - be careful of companies that use crypto as a “carrot on a stick”
• Watching what you eat and doing simple exercises daily can do a lot to improve your health and enrich your life in the long run. When you’re at your retirement age, you’re gonna want to still be able to carry yourself to do whatever it is that could make the rest of your life happy. Having a lot of wealth, without a lot of health doesn’t do anyone any good.  

Brief bio on co-host Tom Hegna

Tom Hegna CLU, ChFC, CASL is an economist, author, and retirement expert. He has been an incredibly popular industry speaker for many years and is considered by many to be THE Retirement Income Expert!

As a former First Vice President at New York Life, retired Lieutenant Colonel, and economist, Tom has delivered over 5,000 seminars on his signature "Paychecks and Playchecks" retirement approach, helping Baby Boomers and seniors retire the "optimal" way. He has condensed a large chunk of his considerable knowledge into 5 books. (Source: tomhegna.com)

Connect with Tom Hegna

• Check out Tom’s Books here: https://tomhegna.com/shop
• Website: https://tomhegna.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhegna
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TomHegnaSpeaks/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomhegnaspeaks
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/retirehappynow/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/tomhegna

Fun With Annuities® Podcast is hosted by America’s Annuity Agent®, Stan Haithcock, The Annuity Man®. Hear brutal annuity facts with no sales pitches from the top independent agent in the country, licensed in all 50 states. Author of 7 books, Stan dives deep on all annuity types and strategies. It’s fun, learning the contractual truths on how annuities actually work and if they’ll fit your personal retirement lifestyle.

Listen in on how you can be livin’ the reality, not the dream®. Listen and subscribe on Libsyn, Stitcher,Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify.