Retiring Old Thinking

When Prudential conducts a retirement study and the findings could double as an ad for its batch of insurance products, you take the results with a shaker of salt.

But in addition to making a case for its variable annuities, the company said the real message of the survey is that investing conservatively isn't necessarily the best strategy for graying baby boomers.

"The thrust of the results is that conventional wisdom may leave retirees short," David Odenath, president of Prudential Annuities, told reporters when the "Retirement Red Zone" study was released late last month. ...