Jennifer Calandra |
February 17, 2014 |
Fixed Annuities, Index Annuities
Annuities, by far, are the most misunderstood and in some cases, misused, financial vehicles in the marketplace. Planning for retirement can be an extremely daunting task and when you add in the confusion of what products to use, who to trust, how to invest…some people choose to do nothing. I want to take a moment to put to rest some concerns as well as provide clarity around the use of Fixed Index Annuities (FIA). Once you become familiar and comfortable with their proper use, reality...
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Anton Hendler |
February 14, 2014 |
Annuity Taxes, Index Annuities
One of the features of a Fixed Index Annuity (FIA) is that it grows tax deferred on a compounding basis. Essentially what this means is that your interest earned every year is not taxed but is left in the annuity to continue to grow each year and is only taxed when taken as income at some point in the future. This can be more significant than one would, at first, imagine. Let us take a simple example to illustrate the point. Let us assume that...
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Richard Ericson |
February 13, 2014 |
Index Annuities
You don’t get what you don’t ask for! The other way to say the exact same thing is, “You get what you ask for.” Recently, my freshman daughter was trying out for the high school volleyball team. In my opinion, she has the ability to be playing, or at least competing, with the junior varsity team, but she tried out for the freshman team. I told her, “If you want to play on the junior varsity team, you need to ask. What is the worst...
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Laura Johnson |
February 13, 2014 |
Annuity Caps, Fixed Annuities, Index Annuities, Participation Rate
The idea of having a savings vehicle that can take advantage of the market upside while protecting your money from market downside sounds extremely promising. This is the usual description of a Fixed Index Annuity. But how do you choose which Fixed Index Annuity? Annuities have now many different options built into them and it make them harder to compare. To answer that question accurately, you first need to ask “What is the primary purpose of the money?” For example, many of my clients are...
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Keith L. Collins |
February 11, 2014 |
Annuity Basics, Fixed Annuities, GMDB, Index Annuities, Surrender Charges
With a multitude of factors involved, indexed-annuity products can be rather complex for many people. While many specialists offer great advice, they rarely tell them about the pitfalls they can face with indexed-annuity products. That is why I intend to educate you with information about the top 5 pitfalls you may face when selecting indexed-annuity products. 1 – Investing in a Single Index As the name suggests, indexed annuity products allow you to link your account to a particular index. More often than not, many...
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Anton Hendler |
February 4, 2014 |
Annual Reset, Annuity Basics, Fixed Annuities, Index Annuities
Of all the features of a Fixed Index Annuity (FIA), arguably the one with the greatest value is the annual reset. What this means is that every year on the anniversary of the policy, any gains in the market (based on the strategy which you have chosen and an index such as the S&P 500) will be credited to your policy and then ‘locked in’. So if the market goes down in the next year, not only will you not go down (you will stay...
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Keith L. Collins |
February 3, 2014 |
Fixed Annuities, Index Annuities, Surrender Charges, Withdrawal Charges
Offering long term benefits that ensure you have a steady flow of income, indexed annuity products can be the difference, for some, between a relaxing and a stressful life. With a multitude of indexed annuity products available today, we understand that it can be difficult making the right choice. With plenty of numbers, calculations and clauses, selecting a product is rarely a simple task. However, we hope to make it simpler by offering a breakdown of the top 10 factors existent in almost any indexed...
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Richard Ericson |
January 28, 2014 |
Index Annuities, Inflation
You know you’re getting old when you are telling your children how much things used to cost. When I was a boy, my father used to moan when gas prices hit $0.30 a gallon. We sold our boat when gas prices skyrocketed to $0.40 a gallon. In 1980, a Porsche 911 cost $32,000. Today, the similar Porsche runs $151,000, which is a 371% increase! At that rate, in another 25 years, that same car will run $600,000. Various driving conditions call for different tools, and...
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Anton Hendler |
January 27, 2014 |
Fixed Annuities, Index Annuities
Much has been written about FIAs (Fixed Index Annuities) but the point we would like to make in this article is that an annuity is, at the end of the day, an insurance product and one should look at it as insurance on your retirement. Because there is no down-side risk, the insurance company guarantees your investment but, not only that, in the case of a FIA, the company will allow you to share in the market growth subject to certain limitations. As with any...
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Stan The Annuity Man |
January 23, 2014 |
Annuity Basics, Ask Stan The Annuity Man, Deferred Annuities, Fixed Annuities, Immediate Annuities, Index Annuities, Longevity Annuities
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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