Some aspects of retirement are eternal and immutable. In other ways, today’s retirees are unlike any others in human history. Living standards depend on productivity, which is spearheaded by technology. Current retirees benefit from a technological revolution of staggering breadth and depth. The Internet provides the nexus to that revolution.
The Internet as Shopping Mall
If the Internet did no more than serve as a mobile shopping mall for retirees, its impact would be dramatic. Aging makes it progressively more difficult for retirees to travel and transact outside the home. Economists describe these difficulties as “transaction costs.” They consist not merely of [...]
Archive for the ‘Variable Annuities’ Category
The Internet and Retirement
Monday, May 10th, 2010Academics and Annuities
Thursday, December 17th, 2009Annuities have been around for several centuries. They satisfy a demand for security. Yet they inspire controversy and emotion. Dispassion and detachment govern life in the academy, at least in principle. This would seem to make academia the logical place in which to seek an objective view. How do academics regard annuities?
The Good…
Academics are trained to think logically and act systematically. They are obsessed with detail and with uncovering the underlying order of things. They are not hamstrung by commercial ties or obligations. They are teachers, accustomed to dispensing learning. These characteristics are ideal for addressing a subject as complicated [...]
