ISO recs for a financial advisor who can help an elderly parent decide whether to convert TSP balance to an annuity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coincidentally I just today sat through a retirement seminar my fed agency sponsored, where the presenting CFA (who specializes in fed retirements) discussed why the tsp annuity option is almost always a bad decision.

Why?
I personally don't see how someone can make that claim unless they are high fee or not good compared to other offerings. Many PhD economists are highly in favor of annuities to guarantee a stream of income (not for all your capital just to the minimum level desired)---as longevity insurance rather than as optimizing performance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coincidentally I just today sat through a retirement seminar my fed agency sponsored, where the presenting CFA (who specializes in fed retirements) discussed why the tsp annuity option is almost always a bad decision. That is interesting but WHY did he say that?? My gut tells that in this situation assuming her TSP is roughly 60/40 stock/bonds, she might be better off not doing the annuity. Just take off 4% per year from the TSP to meet income needs. There may be no COLA with the annuity unless you pay for that rider. Age 80 for an annuity does seem old. You have to have some growth risk to compete against inflation. Plus the annuity will have surrender charges if she needs access to those funds.

[Anonymous]

The reason people are saying 80 is a bad age to get an annuity is also the reason 80 is a good age to get an annuity.

The TSP annuity calculator is online. For 100,000 an 80 yo can get almost $1,100/month. A 70 yo would get $750 /month.