"For years, the retirement industry struggled to push annuities into 401(k) plans. Participants distrusted them. Fiduciaries worried about liability. Regulators remained cautious.... So the industry changed the marketing. Instead of selling 'fixed annuities' or 'index annuities,' it began selling 'lifetime income.' ... But behind the softer language sits the same insurance-driven business model that has long dominated retail annuity sales: opaque pricing, embedded spreads, insurer credit risk, weak benchmarking, and conflicts of interest between insurers, consultants, recordkeepers, and product manufacturers."  MORE >>