Everyone needs to know this is just like having social security except with a residual balance.  With social security, all the money you put into it is gone, unless your spouse collects a portion of the payments. With an annuity you can add a guaranteed income feature that acts just like social security.  Buy the […]

All of us on the professional side of this business come to it for different reasons.  For me it was a way of using my college education.  Some were similar to me, others found the opportunity simply because he/she could make money, while a select few came because of personal interests that turned into a […]

Over the past few weeks, several people have called with concern regarding changes to a few of the longtime favorite vehicles for passing along assets to the next generation.  While I’ll talk more specifically about annuities in those terms next week, I thought following up the variable annuity article from a couple weeks ago would […]

Variable Annuities (VAs) constitute 60% or more of annuity sales annually.  This surprises me simply because most negative information about annuities in general is based on the structure of variable annuities.  To me it doesn’t make sense that 60% of people in or near retirement would want the associated complexity and cost.  Be that as […]

This week I am happy to introduce the culmination of a side project. It has taken nearly two months to get off the ground but will be a mainstay on this website for years to come.  The Annuity Straight Talk podcast will give everyone another option for consuming the information that will lead to sound […]

I ran into a standard example last week when Sharon scheduled an appointment and asked for me to review an annuity proposal she had received.  Without naming names I’ll say that the proposal came from a large national firm that advertises aggressively for index annuity sales.  I know well how the company works and have […]

Last week I tried to explain to everyone how rate adjustments work within an index annuity contract.  It’s an objective matter that offers little insight as to the structure but there is plenty of room allowed for the inquisitive mind to make a rational decision.  Even still, there are those who feel as though the […]

Safety and protection is the primary objective of using annuities.  Each type of annuity was created to protect your assets from at least one major risk in retirement.  Variable annuities let you invest in the market but protect you from taxes with non-qualified assets.  Fixed and fixed index annuities protect you from violent changes in […]

This is just a little something that may help those who have one of the biggest index annuity objections.  Many don’t like the fact that interest rates, meaning cap and participation rates in contracts can change from year to year.  Never mind the economics that explain option pricing, popular thought suggests that insurance companies are […]

Late last week someone emailed to ask for my take on an article about indexed annuities from John, the Vice President of Research at Morningstar.  Given the writer’s experience with financial markets, I was curious to see whether he’d give annuities a fair assessment.  But it turns out that he doesn’t know a whole lot […]