When the government announced it would includequalified longevity annuity contractsin 401(k) plans, the insurance industry rejoiced. Much has beenwritten about how they answer a need for savers to focus on incomerather than savings and investments. QLACs address the relatedconcern of outliving your savings.
Yet, for all the initial excitement, QLACs have been slow tomove out of the gate. Part of the problem arises from theunfortunate choice of name. By adopting the word “annuity” into itstitle, the QLAC instantly evokes negative connotations among asizable portion of the market. Although a QLAC does, in many ways,function like an annuity, it is really a form of insurance. Ratherthan insuring against premature death, a QLAC insures against abelated death or, in other words, the unexpected longevity of one'slife.
I guess there were other drawbacks to using the word “insurance”instead of “annuity.” The acronym would have been QLIC, which, ifyou say it out loud, doesn't sound too appetizing. We could havecalled it what it is—longevity insurance—but that acronym isn't anybetter. (Say “LI” out loud if you don't believe me.)
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