What if an Insurance Company Fails?
One of the most common fears that people share when faced with the prospect of getting an insurance policy is what happens if the insurer goes bankrupt. Can you recover? How much money would be lost? What insurance company should you choose?
It has happened in the past but insurance companies rarely fail. Understanding how past insolvencies were handled can give you comfort in knowing that insurance products are incredibly safe.
In this episode, Bryan explains why insurance is one of the safest investments or allocations you can make with your retirement assets and what you should know if an insurance company fails so you can be prepared to prevent an adverse outcome.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- 04:53 Why insurance companies are really the bedrock of our financial system
- 05:37 The state guarantee fund
- 06:18 The difference between the offers in an insurance company and a bank
- 10:21 The two different types of accounts in an insurance company
- 11:33 Why insurance companies fail
- 15:48 What happens to your annuity if your insurance company fails
- 21:53 The four components to the safety of annuity
Key quotes:
- 15:53 “If a company fails, then another company is probably going to buy your annuity.” -Bryan Anderson
- 20:59 “In order for you to really lose money with an annuity, it’s going to take like it’s a failure of the system, not of the company.” -Bryan Anderson
- 21:55 “Remember, if you want security, you’re going to pay for it in some way or another.” -Bryan Anderson
Links/Resources:
Call Annuity Straight Talk at 800-438-5121 or schedule a call at AnnuityStraightTalk.com
Good job as usual Bryan. Keep up the great informative info coming. Hope all is well. All is well on this end. Have a happy and festive holiday season.
Keep me on your list.
Carl S.
Excellent! I hope your left hand/wrist heals quickly. Thank goodness it was not your right hand trigger finger on the elk hunt this year.
Dear Bryan:
I hope your optimism proves on point in the case of CB Life. Prior to purchasing my 2 annuities with a representative of the CT insurance department assured me I was completely covered by the guarantee fund but after reading the on line postings on the company website I am not so sure. I’m afraid they will hold the funds until the contract maturity date, just waiting for the annuitant-owners to die. Any thoughts?
John – I’m pretty certain you’ll get your money back but defining a time would purely be speculation. There’s no way the company is just waiting to stiff contract owners when they die. There are rules and a process that have to play out. It doesn’t seem like CB Life has a portfolio any other company wants so it’s likely this will go to the guaranty funds after all assets have been liquidated. Unfortunately you’ll have to wait and see.