Refinance Your Retirement
Why today’s interest rates are quietly changing retirement planning
Do you have an annuity?
If you do, when was the last time it was reviewed?
Not when it was purchased.
Not when the paperwork was signed.
Actually reviewed.
For most people, the honest answer is “I’m not sure.”
That’s not negligence. It’s normal. Annuities are often bought with long-term intentions, then quietly filed away as something “handled.” But in today’s economic environment, that hands-off approach may be costing retirees more than they realize.
A familiar idea, applied to retirement
Most homeowners understand refinancing.
When mortgage rates drop, people refinance to lower payments, improve cash flow, or shorten the life of their loan. It’s considered prudent financial behavior.
Retirement planning doesn’t always get the same treatment.
And yet, something important has shifted.
Interest rates have risen sharply from near zero in 2020 to multi-percent levels in recent years. Moving from near-zero levels to the highest range in over two decades. While higher rates have slowed mortgage refinancing, they’ve had the opposite effect on certain retirement tools, especially annuities.
That shift has created a window of opportunity many people don’t know exists.
Why annuities are uniquely affected by higher rates
Annuities are directly influenced by interest rates. When rates rise, insurers can often offer more attractive benefits, including:
• Higher income payout potential
• Improved participation rates tied to market indexes
• Larger bonuses or income credits
• Stronger guarantees with less tradeoff
Many annuities issued between 2010 and 2020 were designed during a historically low-rate period. At the time, those products made sense. But they were built for a different environment.
According to LIMRA, more than 40% of annuity owners are over age 65, and many have held their policies for a decade or longer. That means a significant portion of retirees may be relying on products structured under assumptions that no longer apply.
What “Refinancing Your Retirement” really means
A Retirement Refinance does not mean starting over.
It does not automatically mean replacing a policy.
And it does not mean you made a bad decision.
It means reviewing an existing annuity to see whether today’s options could better support your current and future needs.
Just as refinancing a home evaluates whether better terms are available, a retirement refinance evaluates whether your annuity is still doing the job it was meant to do.
That job might be income.
Or protection.
Or growth with limits on downside risk.
Or legacy planning.
The question is not “Is this annuity good?”
The question is “Is it still the right tool for today?”
The real risk most people overlook
When people think about retirement risk, they usually focus on market volatility.
But for many retirees, the greater risk is inertia.
Keeping a financial product simply because it exists, not because it’s still optimal.
Life changes. Spending needs change. Tax considerations change. Health changes. Markets change. Interest rates change.
A retirement plan that never adapts slowly drifts out of alignment.
And because annuities are long-term by design, they’re often the most overlooked part of a portfolio when it comes to regular review.
Why an insurance review matters more than ever
An insurance review isn’t about selling something new. It’s about answering practical questions:
• Is this annuity still aligned with how you plan to use income in retirement?
• Does it reflect today’s interest rate environment?
• Are there newer structures that could improve flexibility or guarantees?
• Is this policy working with the rest of your plan, or sitting apart from it?
According to industry studies, many retirees cannot accurately describe the features of their own annuities, including income riders or benefit bases. That lack of clarity makes it difficult to know whether a policy is helping or simply existing.
A review restores understanding and intentionality.
The bottom line
You wouldn’t assume your home loan is still optimal after ten or fifteen years without checking. Your retirement deserves the same level of care.
If you own an annuity and haven’t reviewed it recently, today’s higher interest rates may have created opportunities that didn’t exist when your policy was issued.
A Retirement Refinance starts with awareness, not action.
It starts with a review.
Because retirement isn’t static.
And your plan shouldn’t be either.
No pressure. No obligation. Just clarity.
