Defining Value Creation in the Decumulation Phase with Allianz Life’s Danielle Kelso
As retirement plan participants transition from the accumulation phase to decumulation, the focus moves from building wealth to ensuring sustainable income—what’s also known as “value creation.”
Danielle Kelso, Senior Institutional Solutions Consultant at Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, joins the 401(k) Specialist Pod(k)ast to shed light on the changes and innovations shaping the future of retirement security. In her role, Kelso provides research, analytics and product expertise to the Allianz sales team, and shares her expertise on what retirement plan advisors and plan sponsors need to be thinking about when it comes to supporting a retiree’s lifestyle by ensuring stable income and managing risks effectively.
Key Insights:
Personalized Income Planning Replaces One-Size-Fits-All
The future of retirement planning lies in personalized strategies. Custom plans that integrate all income sources and reflect individual goals and spending habits offer better outcomes than generic investment approaches.
Redefining Value Creation in Retirement
Value creation is evolving beyond accumulating the highest portfolio balance. In retirement, it now centers on generating reliable, sustainable income that supports lifestyle and essential needs. This shift emphasizes peace of mind and financial security over raw returns.
Annuities Play a Key Role in Managing Retirement Risks
Modern annuities help mitigate key retirement risks such as longevity, market volatility, inflation, and personal life changes. Allianz research shows that portfolios including annuities significantly improve the probability of meeting income goals—by up to 25–40% in adverse markets.
See Also:
Exploring Guaranteed Income in DC Plan Trends with Allianz Life’s Matt Stubblefield
Solving the Portability Puzzle with Allianz Life’s Ben Thomason
Exploring Retirement Income Strategies with Joshua Grass and Todd Levy
The hypothetical examples cited uses the Portfolio Impact Report (PIR) engine developed by Allianz Investment Management U.S. LLC (AIM US) which demonstrates the probability of achieving retirement goals by using model hypothetical portfolios and 20,000 Monte Carlo simulations. The PIR tool is used to show how adding an annuity to a portfolio may quantitatively improve the likelihood of portfolio success. The PIR tool is not intended as an individualized financial planning tool.
Fixed index annuities are designed to meet long-term needs for retirement income. They provide guarantees against the loss of principal and credited interest, tax deferred accumulation potential, and the reassurance of a death benefit for beneficiaries.
This content is for general educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide fiduciary, tax, or legal advice and cannot be used to avoid tax penalties or to promote, market, or recommend any tax plan or arrangement. Please note that Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz), its affiliated companies, and their representatives and employees do not give fiduciary, tax, or legal advice or advice related to Social Security or Medicare. Clients are encouraged to consult their tax advisor or attorney, or Social Security Administration (SSA) office, for their particular situation. Allianz does not provide financial planning services or advice.
Investment strategies, such as diversification, do not ensure a profit or protect against loss.
The indexes available within the contract are constructed to keep track of diverse segments of the U.S. or international markets, or specific market sectors. These indexes are benchmarks only. Indexes can have different constituents and weighting methodologies. Some indexes have multiple versions that can weight components or may track the impact of dividends differently. Although an index may affect interest credited, clients cannot purchase, directly participate in, or receive dividend payments from any of them through the index annuity contract.
Withdrawals from an annuity may be subject to ordinary federal and state income taxes. You may also be subject to a 10% federal additional tax if you take withdrawals prior to age 59½.
Annuity guarantees are backed solely by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company.
Allianz Investment Management U.S. LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz) and provides investment management and hedging services to the broader Allianz Group.
Product and feature availability may vary by state and broker/dealer.
This content does not apply in the state of New York.
Not FDIC insured • May lose value • No bank or credit union guarantee• Not a deposit • Not insured by any federal government agency or NCUA/NCUSIF
For institutional use only – not for use with the public.
Veteran financial services industry journalist Brian Anderson joined 401(k) Specialist as Managing Editor in January 2019. He has led editorial content for a variety of well-known properties including Insurance Forums, Life Insurance Selling, National Underwriter Life & Health, and Senior Market Advisor. He has always maintained a focus on providing readers with timely, useful information intended to help them build their business.
