Across all the demographic segments, the most important financial goal was to have enough savings to last through retirement, then pay for health care costs.

Republican lawmakers are bidding to make last year’s tax cuts permanent, but face opposition. One industry group would like to see greater attention paid to retirement security aspects.

An employee on maternity leave was watching news on TV the day before she was returning to work. Then she saw it would also be the last day as she knew it at her venerable Wall Street firm.

A new Deloitte survey finds insurers well behind the ball when it comes to meeting consumers’ needs digitally. Consumers are self-educating about life insurance online and carriers and agents need to respond better to that market if they want to increase life insurance ownership, the survey concludes.

Ohio National became the most recent company to learn that it takes size and scale to remain in the variable annuity business in 2018. The company said recently that it will leave the business and focus on other segments. Can VAs survive low interest rates and other pressures?

Thirty-six percent of advisors position themselves to clients and prospects as a financial planner, according to a new survey.

Total annuity sales totaled $56 billion in the second quarter, a 15.9 percent increase from sales of $48.3 billion during the first quarter of 2018.

Regulatory relief and the Trump administration helped variable annuity sales reverse a long sales slide in the second quarter. However, analysts say it might be a mirage, as indexed annuities are likely to steal VA market share moving forward.

A National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ working group hopes to finalize a best-interest standard for annuity sales during a special two-day meeting next month in Chicago.

Citing more regulations and the low-interest-rate environment, Ohio National is getting out of the annuity business and laying off 300 people. The company’s departure from the market will benefit several competitors, such as Great American, AIG and Allianz, one analyst said.

The New York Department of Financial Services passed tough cybersecurity rules for financial services last year, and more states are working on their own versions.

Ohio National execs say regulations and low interest rates make annuities a tough sell. The company will focus on growing its life and disability insurance lines, as well as expand Latin America operations. The company recently named Christopher A. Carlson as president and CEO.

The Protocol for Broker Recruiting appears to be very much in a holding pattern as hundreds of firms wait to see how a schism plays out and individual advisors and broker teams think twice before jumping ship. Analysts disagree on whether the protocol is collapsing.

MDRT met recently to welcome a new president and secretary for the 2019 campaign.

Ten years after the 2008 financial crisis, many clients are primarily worried about protecting their retirement nest egg. If they aren’t, their advisors say they are. Many have shifted toward “safer” products as they approach planning through a more balanced and holistic lens, a new survey finds.

A new Pacific Life communication tool will alert advisors to customer account activity – new contract issuance, additional investments, distributions, etc. – within 15 minutes via text or email. The service will improve customer relations and put a dent in fraud, execs say.

After three consecutive quarters of declines, individual life insurance sales growth rebounded in the second quarter of 2018.

Indexed life sales shot up during the second quarter to a near-record $552.7 million. That figure represents a more than 13.6 percent over the prior quarter, and more than 13.9 percent compared to the same period last year. Only the fourth-quarter 2017 showed higher sales, according to Wink data.

Lincoln Financial uses IMOs to distribute many of the company’s products, such as life insurance and long-term care, and now, annuities. A deal is in place to distribute an index annuity from Lincoln to high-net-worth investors through a Georgia-based IMO.