Advertisement Continue reading the main storyHis proposal fell flat, largely because the notion of gambling on human life rubbed religious-minded French parliamentarians the wrong way. Nonetheless, by the turn of the last century, nearly half of American households were saving for retirement via “tontine insurance,” a riff on the original tontine, introduced by Equitable Life (now AXA) in 1868. By 1905, the aggregated cash reserves of tontine insurance were more than $6 billion, representing over 7.5 percent of the nation’s wealth. Tontine insurance policies were soon banned in several states. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyLingering legal questions need to be resolved, according to today’s tontine enthusiasts.

Source: New York Times March 24, 2017 19:30 UTC