InvestmentNews Features Elizabeth "Libet" Anderson on Breaking Down Silos in Retirement Planning

April 8, 2026 - Denver, CO — Investments & Wealth Institute Board Chair Elizabeth "Libet" Anderson was recently featured in an InvestmentNews article examining how financial advisors are rethinking the role of life insurance and annuities in retirement planning—and why keeping them in separate silos no longer serves clients.

The article explored a growing industry shift from product-centric advising toward integrated, outcome-focused planning. As more retirees face the transition away from defined benefit pensions and carry greater personal responsibility for retirement security, the conversation around guaranteed income and asset protection has taken on new urgency.

Anderson believes these two disciplines should never have been treated separately, pointing out that building an investment portfolio for retirement without also protecting those assets represents a fundamental gap in client service.

"With the shift from Defined Benefit to Defined Contribution plans and the corresponding shift of risk and discipline from employer to employee, we now have more retirees unprepared for the retirement they imagined," Anderson said. "Since more retirees are dependent on social security, life insurance and annuities become an even more critical piece of the planning process."

She also noted the limitations of conventional decumulation approaches that rely too heavily on asset allocation adjustments alone, stressing that advisors must understand each client's level of financial "fundedness" to give truly holistic guidance.

"Someone who might be able to retire but can't take too much risk might need some guaranteed income to ensure they can take care of essential expenses," Anderson said. "If an advisor is truly exercising holistic planning, the protection side cannot be ignored.”

Read the full InvestmentNews article: https://www.investmentnews.com/retirement-planning/annuities/265943