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Top 5 Reasons to Use an Income Rider Instead of Investment Accounts for Retirement Income

Carl Ostenson

Do you want to put aside a portion of your retirement savings so it will guarantee you income when you retire? Here’s my Top 5 reasons why using an indexed annuity with an income rider could be a good solution: 1) LOCK IN THE LAST 5 YEARS OF GAINS: Since the market bottom in March of 2009 the SP 500 Index is up 165% without any real major correction. (As of 2/24/14) You are also 5 years older now and have less time to recover...

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How a Restricted Beneficiary Form Can Kinda Act Like a Free Trust

Carl Ostenson

Do you have children or grandchildren that aren’t really good with money? You know the type, the ones who as kids, had their allowance spent before it was even in their pocket and now they have $20,000 in credit card debt and spend money even faster than a drunken sailor. Or maybe you have a child or grandchild who is struggling with drugs or gambling and a big lump sum of money would only make things worse. Or maybe you don’t really like your daughter’s...

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Why Are There So Many Annuity Internet Pop Up Ads?

Stan The Annuity Man

Question: Every time I try to do some internet research on annuities, I am inundated by a ton of annuity pop up ads.  Are these good resources?  What’s the catch?  Some of the returns and video claims seem too good to be true. from Kevin in Alva, Oklahoma Answer: This is a great question, and what you have discovered is that there is absolutely no oversight or enforcement on what is said, advertised, or promised concerning annuities.  It’s the wild wild-west out there.  This is...

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The Tale of Two … Parents

Todd D. Heckman

I just returned from a holiday trip ‘up north’ to visit my parents and mother-in-law….. Stop me if you have heard this story before…there are two sets of parents, my parents and my in-laws. My parents, both in their 80s, are cared for in a well-run retirement community and lead a very active lifestyle. This is despite the fact that my father continues to fight a two and a half decade old battle with a dread disease (leukemia). They travel together, volunteer and participate in...

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How Do You Know If You Have Enough Money To Retire?

Carl Ostenson

That’s a great question people ask themselves all the time. What I’d like to do it re-phrase it into a question that I think gets to the core of the matter with a little more clarity. “Will your Social Security and/or Pension be enough retirement income to pay your bills and have a little fun… OR… will you need more income than that?  Because, if Social Security and/or your pension is enough income, then you don’t really have to worry about how much money you...

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Which Is Better For Future Income….Longevity Annuities or Income Riders?

Stan The Annuity Man

Question: I’m looking to set up a guaranteed lifetime income stream to start sometime in the future.  Which is better, longevity annuities or income riders? from Tom in Portland, Oregon Answer: Excellent “head scratcher” Tom, and this is one of the most important questions currently in the world of annuities.  What you are talking about is target date or income later planning.  You want to plan a lifetime income stream to turn on in the future, and would like to be able to know to...

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Why You Should NOT Put ALL Your Money In Annuities

Rob Brinkman

You have heard the old saying “Don’t put all of your eggs into one basket” before right? Well the saying holds very true for annuities as well. No matter how safe an annuity is perceived to be, and no matter how much contractually guaranteed income that the annuity can spin off for you, there is no reason that anyone should put all (or even almost all) of their money into annuities. This video goes over the history of annuity suitability and also discusses who can...

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Fixed Indexed Annuities: Risk vs. Reward

Anton Hendler

As with any investment, one makes a call based on risk and reward. Fixed Index Annuities continue to offer one of the best trade-offs in the market. However, it is still important that one stays abreast of what is happening in the market and what products are being offered as these change on an ongoing basis in response to the market and what demand is driving the insurance companies to offer. For instance, as interest rates remain low, but the markets showed increases over the...

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Thinking about Buying an Annuity… But Afraid to Tie up Your Money?

John P. Grimes

We’ve all heard the expression ‘have your cake and eat it too’. It’s a pretty simple dilemma; if you have your cake and eat it… then it’s gone. If you don’t eat the cake, you still have it but don’t get to enjoy it. Wouldn’t it be nice to have it both ways? It’s like being rewarded without taking any risk or getting something nice without having to pay for it.  So you’ve done some research about fixed indexed annuities and you find there are...

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Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Beneficiaries to Annuity Contracts

Jerry Rogers

One great advantage of owning an annuity is the ability to, upon your death, have your money flow to your beneficiaries without having to go through probate. Beneficiary designations take precedent over wills.  If you do not name a beneficiary your money flows to your estate. This may tie it up for an extended period of time and will subject it to court fees.  On the other hand, an insurance company will distribute the balance of an annuity within a matter of a few weeks...

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