"In “Are annuities necessary for baby boomers?” (January issue, page 62) Michael Sadoff is correct when he
states that having a 20 year time horizon defeats the purpose of an annuity with a guaranteed benefit, since the market will outperform the guaranteed benefit. But what if the 61-year-old baby boomer needs an income stream from his assets? And what if he begins his withdrawal at the beginning of a bear market? To imply that [annuities]
are not necessary in a portfolio is like saying I don’t need insurance on my house. Like many who don’t like annuities, he made a judgment without examining facts. A properly laddered investment strategy with annuities
makes perfect sense to protect the client’s income in the event of a down market. As I tell my clients, when invested in the market, you can always get your money back — but you can’t get your time back." — Mark A. Nelson, president, Harvest Planning Network, Overland Park, Kan.