The Wall Street Journal reports on the race among insurers to sell variable annunities to Boomers as they begin to move assets out of stocks and other asset groups. Annuities have a tarnished history due to unethical marketing in the past by some companies. Major insurers are hoping to set that right with new product offerings that will appeal to the massive number of Boomers heading into retirement. This time around, insurers themselves face the bigger risk, as annuities carry guarantees of lifetime payment. The key question, of course: how long will Boomers live? Insurance companies are trying to do their actuarial homework:

AXA is making one of the biggest pushes around the globe into variable annuities, highlighting the promises and pitfalls of the market. It has “risk labs” in New York and Paris trying to predict what the future holds for longevity and financial markets. Could a surprise medical breakthrough — a cure for cancer, for instance — wreak havoc on the company’s longevity models? Average life spans have been rising for years in the U.S. and Europe. In Japan, more than 28,000 people are now older than 100. “Longevity is a difficult risk to price,” says Simon Harris, who heads a group of European insurance analysts for Moody’s Investors Service in London. “Unlike pricing a motor-insurance policy, where the risks are pretty well understood and you can reprice each year, with longevity, you have to put a price today on risks that will emerge many years into the future.”

According to Investment News, annuities’ lifetime guarantee could be too risky for insurers if Boomers outlive the projections and if the stock market heads south–making it difficult for providers to earn sufficient income to support payments.

File this one under “bad financial management ideas.” Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Co. forecasts rising use or reverse mortgages by Baby Boomers–in part to support their lifestyles. Stephen Deschenes, an executive vice president at Fidelity, tells Investment News are more aggressive in the way they use financial assets, and less frugal than generations that came before. “When you think about the baby boomers burning the candle at both ends, [will they tap] their home equity to eat out more often? I think [so] absolutely,” he told the magazine, which circulates to financial planners. Reverse mortgages–available to homeowners age 62 and higher–are gaining popularity quickly as a way to tap home equity and stretch retirement income.

The Federal Housing Adminstration reports this week that originations totaled 76,276 in the 12 months ended September 30th last year compared with the previous 12-month period. That number is based on the number of loans insured by FHA (around 90 percent of the total market). Countrywide Financial Corp. jumped into the market this week. Wall Street Journal coverage is here. Other major players already there include Bank of America, Wells Fargo and others.

Quote of the day comes from Marti Barletta, one of the top thought leaders around when it comes to marketing to women–especially 50+ women. Speaking today at the Marketing2Women conference in Chicago:

“Women make 80 percent of all the household purchasing decisions. And when it comes to 50+ women, this is influenced by what I call ‘biological jujitsu.’ At this age, the estrogen level in women drops–which makes the effect of testosterone more visible. Women become more assertive and have more self-control. Meanwhile, testosterone levels in men fall–so they are more accommodating. The result? Women have expanded family influence. They make the decisions on where to vacation, and what to buy. And their kids might be out of the house, but they ask Mom for advice on all kinds of purchases.”

Barletta heads up the Trendsight Group, and just published a new book called “PrimeTime Women: How to Win the Hearts, Minds and Business of Boomer Big Spenders.” In the book, she goes on to describe the coming concentration among women of financial assets as income rises and inheritances materialize from parents and husbands. Financial services companies already are on to this–witness major marketing pushes targeting women from Wells Fargo, Wachovia, Merrill Lynch and others.

I’m reading the book and will be interviewing Marti here on the site next week. If you have questions for Marti, drop me a comment here.

If only you could put off every important financial decision until your 53rd birthday, you’d really save a bundle over the course of a lifetime. In today’s Wall Street Journal, “Capital” columnist David Wessel reports on a study by four leading economists demonstrating that “middle-aged adults tend to borrow at lower interest rates and pay fewer fees than younger and older adults.” The optimal decision-making age, according to the economists:  53. They sifted through financial records for tens of thousands of consumers, looking at  decision-making on products ranging from home equity loans to credit card payments. Middle-aged adults seem to borrow at lower rates and pay fewer fees.

Goldman Sachs’ new basket of Japanese stocks that will benefit from the Boomer age wave got me thinking about U.S.-based boomer stocks. What companies will benefit most from the potent combination of increased longevity, affluence and the enormous size of the Boomer demographic segment? Top investment analysts have been weighing in on Boomer stock plays; most are focusing on the obvious sectors—financial, healthcare, real estate and travel.

50+Digital will be monitoring market analysis and commentary on stocks that represent age wave plays, and collecting pointers to the best commentary. The most interesting analysis we’ve seen so far comes from Erik Dellith at Reuters, who recently published a list of ten favorite stocks . He started with a list of more than 1,000 companies, and boiled it down to just over 100 using various Reuters filters for quality. The final cut filtered for above average earnings-per-share growth within an industry category for both the trailing 12 months and the past five years. Two of his favorites: Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Nicholas Financial Inc.

Below is a live chart of the Reuters picks so you can keep score:

CNBC wild man Jim Cramer also has some views on boomer stocks. Like Reuters, Cramer likes Goldman Sachs. His picks also include Legg Mason Inc. and T. Rowe Price Group.

The hotel sector should be a strong play, according to a study by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, supported by rising leisure travel by aging boomers. The study points to full service hotels as a best bet.

Boomers are aging, but we don’t want to be reminded of it. At 60, we think we’re 40. We’re starting to retire…but think we’re too young to retire.

Marketing to this crowd is tough, as insurance companies and other financial services companies have learned. Best’s Review reports that financial services marketers are attempting to walk a fine line with products and advertising messages targeting what it calls the “large and in charge” crowd—a reference to the size and disproportionate wealth of the Boomer generation.

Who’s doing what, according to Best’s:

Ameriprise research showed Boomers “want to engage with their financial adviser on a deeper, more emotional level” and tries to connect with the market through ads evoking aspirations and hopes. Soon after they retire, they’re looking for new adventures and challenges:

“What really makes a difference in whether people are able to handle that is if they have planned for it. How can we as a company help them to reach that point that they can work because they want to, not because they need to? It’s really interesting to think about retirement in that way.”

Ameriprise ads address the market with a mix of rock ‘n roll, aspirations and a sense of humor. The pitch: “dream-plan-track” financial services.

Allstate positions itself as a one-stop financial planning shop for middle-income baby boomers through its agent network. The focus is on products featuring flexibility and transparency of results.

Matt Thornhill of The Boomer Project tells Best’s the most frequent question he gets from insurance clients: “How do we even get boomers to talk about this? Because we start talking to them about life products, and they’re like, ‘Hey, when I get there.’ They’re in denial.”