Blueprint Income

Income & Fixed Annuities and the Personal Pension

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Creating real retirement security with the Personal Pension. Making annuities an asset class. Tweets: #aging, #longevity, #retirement, #fintech, #insurtech
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Launch tags:Fintech•Tech
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What do you think? …

Matthew R. Carey
Maker
Hi Product Hunt! Wanted to introduce you all to the Personal Pension, something we’ve been working on for a while. We think retirement right now is too darn complicated and too DIY — and that’s not the way it used to be. A few years ago, I was seeing both personally and professionally how not having pensions is making retirement more complicated/less likely for GenX and millennials. How It works: You contribute in small amounts over time, and then when you retire, you get a monthly paycheck that keeps coming as long as you’re alive. So simple a monkey could do it! The Personal Pension is a paycheck that comes every month in retirement and lasts as long as you’re alive. It’s backed by several highly-rated insurers with returns similar to bonds. But unlike a bond, there’s no market risk. It also ensures you don’t outlive your money (since it lasts as long as you’re alive). Said differently, we’re reinventing the annuity market so it’s (1) digital (2) simpler (3) easier to get started and (4) better for consumers. Think Fabric, Quilt, or Ladder — but instead of someone you love getting paid if you die, this pays you retirement income as long as you’re alive. Annuities have a dodgy reputation (rightfully in many cases!), so we’re especially excited about the opportunity to create a real asset class — transparent, low-fee, low-minimum, and easy to diversify. We’d love your feedback! Getting people to think about their retirement in terms of income, rather than assets is a big behavioral shift, so any and all ideas would be much appreciated!
Isaac Silverman
Love this. Congrats @lauren_minches and team!
Sam Campbell
I'm always in favor of making retirement simpler! Based on general inputs (30 y.o. male, $10K contribution/year), the annual payout at 70 y.o. is $61K/year. Using a simple model (same age/ retirement year, 6% rate of return) before retirement, it appears Blueprint can earn and payout ~4% of the principal annually once the member retires. Is this simple methodology correct? The benefit is guaranteed income, however, it doesn't come cheap (giving up ~$1.5M in principal to pass on).
Matthew R. Carey
Maker
@campbellcapital No doubt! And your figures are (at least directionally) correct. You're definitely foregoing some market upside for the certainty of getting a monthly paycheck in retirement for as long as you live. We think the best way to think about it is as a replacement for some or all of your retirement portfolio’s fixed income/bond portfolio. In a world where you know you won't be spending down principal in retirement, it probably doesn't make sense. But for the vast majority of us, having enough ourselves is the primary concern. In terms of money to pass on, the quotes you probably saw include a refund of any unpaid principal if you die earlier than expected. Retirement has three major risks -- inflation risk, market risk and longevity risk -- and an all market portfolio doesn't protect against 2 of those 3. A pension did. So, not an elixir or a reason to not be in the market, but we think it’s an important piece of most retirement portfolios in a world where very few of us are getting a pension.
Sam Campbell
@careymatthewr Thanks for the detailed explanation! Completely understand the need to replace a pension with a simple and stable option. Not an easy task seeing as most public pensions are grossly underfunded. Best of luck!
Shohini Gupta

great, responsive team that actually cares about the core issue behind this product - that saving for retirement is confusing and overly complicated. the design/thought into the product is impeccable, and i've seen how the team works day in / day out to make it happen.

Pros:

Easy to use interface, everything really simply explained

Cons:

none!

Jordan Krueger
It looks like you're a marketplace for annuity products. How does it work once I've chosen a product – do you provide the interface for my annuity product, or am I turned over to the annuity company and then have to manage my product through their customer service, website, etc.?
Matthew R. Carey
Maker
@jordankrueger Thanks for your question. We are a marketplace but not only -- we're actually working with the insurers to create new low-minimum, subscription products that actually make sense for (1) digital and (2) a world without pensions. The backing is from the insurers and the contract has their name on it, but you deal directly with us for any changes/questions etc. We also make it really easy to spread risk across insurers to get the best price with future contributions. We're not doing lead gen. Hope this helps!
Daniel McAuley

A barbell approach to investing can be the right approach for many people. Ensuring that your floor is there allows you to sleep at night and take more risk elsewhere in your portfolio. Blueprint has managed to make the process of achievinf this easy and cheaper.

Pros:

Automated the process of building guaranteed income in retirement

Cons:

Tough to prioritize somthing that is decades out

Paul Schwesinger

Overall good experience

Pros:

Relatively simple process and not having to put a lot of money upfront.. this can be done online or with a Blueprint Income rep.

Cons:

One has to realize that they are locking up their money until retirement.