Deferred annuities are, unfortunately a bit of a minefield for consumers - usually sold with high annual expenses, high commissions, and the insurance company t

Deferred annuities are, unfortunately a bit of a minefield for consumers - usually sold with high annual expenses, high commissions, and the insurance company takes the other side of the mortality bet: if people die earlier than expected the insurance company gets a windfall, if they die much later the insurance company takes a loss, and the annuity buyer is potentially exposed to credit risk if the insurance company fails (seems unlikely but a lot can happen over a 50-year accumulation and withdrawal period). In my opinion, this is an example of regulation and taxation allowing gimmicky and expensive products and sometimes downright shenanigans, while blocking a simple, inexpensive solution to a universal problem. What is insurance if not a pool of people coming together to share risks? What better sharing economy product than a crowd-sourced, peer-to-peer, life insurance solution. I blogged a bit more on the subject here - http://blog.streeteye.com/blog/2015/09/tontines-strange-name-great-idea/ http://blog.streeteye.com/blog/2015/09/tontines-strange-name...