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Interesting on the life insurance thing - wonder why they'd want out of the market? Is this a first of more to come? Hm. Regarding Peanuts, you're not alone in
by 6stringmerc 10y ago
Interesting on the life insurance thing - wonder why they'd want out of the market? Is this a first of more to come? Hm.
Regarding Peanuts, you're not alone in finding the strip a bit off-putting. I tried many times to 'get it' like the advice booth, but between the janky art style and not quite finding the strip speak to me, it's not a personal classic. By comparison I got a lot more mileage out of The Far Side.
- PhantomGremlin 10y agoInteresting on the life insurance thing - wonder why they'd want out of the market? Is this a first of more to come? The secret sauce to making life insurance work is the time value of money. An insurance company takes in relatively small premiums from its customers, then invests that money over decades. The result is a death benefit that is considerably larger in nominal terms than the sum of moneys paid in. This method has worked for life insurance for decades, even centuries. But central banks have upended it. Now some sovereign debt even has negative interest rates. Of course, there are alternative investments, such as equities and real estate, still available. But they are riskier and far more volatile than bonds held to maturity. Low interest rates together with low inflation make it very difficult for life insurance companies. Just another example of collateral damage from ZIRP.
- 6stringmerc 10y agoWell put, I don't do life but have plenty of experience with P&C and some professional coverage lines. Law of large numbers type stuff makes sense, and if their actuaries don't see it happening, then yeah get out! Totally in agreement with you that ZIRP's downstream consequences are significant, and, I believe, distasteful in the context of global markets.