Michael Canet |
April 11, 2014 |
Variable Annuities
Over the last decade, certainly up to the 2008 market crash, one of the hottest-selling investment products was the variable annuity. While there is no silver bullet out there, variable annuities (VAs) were often presented as an investment tool that came with guarantees of income for the investor. After getting burned by the market in early 2000s, many investors were looking for just that: A guarantee. After all, that is what an insurance company is for; they transfer the risk to another person. In this...
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Richard Ericson |
April 9, 2014 |
Fixed Annuities, Index Annuities
A little boy runs into his grandpa and says, “Can you make a sound like a frog?” Grandpa replies, “of course I can make a sound like a frog. Why do you ask?” The boy says, “Grandma says when Grandpa croaks we can all go to Hawaii.” Grandma and Grandpa knew their money was protected and safe in Grandpa’s indexed annuity. There are many common questions that I am asked by investors as they learn about indexed annuities. “What happens to my fixed annuity when...
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Keith L. Collins |
April 4, 2014 |
Annuity Basics, Retirement Planning
The roller coaster ride of the stock market in the past five years has resulted in plenty of discussions regarding how to take advantage of the market highs while also protecting our savings against the market lows. However, with our obsession with stock market performance, we may be overlooking the one silent killer that can slyly erode the purchasing power of our retirement savings. Yes, I am talking about inflation. There are two big threats to our retirement savings. One is the risk of outliving...
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Todd D. Heckman |
April 4, 2014 |
Retirement Planning
Talk with someone – whether a friend or financial advisor – about whether there’s going to be enough money to retire on, and the conversation is likely to focus entirely on whether you have enough to pay your bills, and maybe to allow for a few extras or to cover emergencies. But there’s a good chance that the issue of “legacy” – what you want to leave behind when you’re gone – will not come up at all. This is a serious oversight. Despite all...
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Todd Wooten |
April 2, 2014 |
Retirement Planning
If you’re like most Americans approaching retirement, for the last 40+ years, you’ve been busy contributing to your IRA or qualified plan. You’ve successfully pushed your income taxes into the future, but the tax collector is knocking on your door and you can’t ignore him any longer. At age 70 ½, required minimum distributions (RMDs) must begin, and Uncle Sam finally gets his share. Once the process of withdrawing from your IRA begins, one of three things will happen: You will live on it, leverage...
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Anton Hendler |
March 31, 2014 |
Annuity Caps, Index Annuities
One thing that is for certain in the Insurance Industry (or any service industry) is that the market will always react to demand for a product. It’s no different with Fixed Index Annuities (FIAs), and recently we have seen more and more ‘Uncapped Products’ offered in reaction to the markets demand for a greater share of upside gains. As with any FIA where you always only share in the market upside (but never in the downside) there are costs and limitations involved so provided you...
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Chad Centorbi |
March 27, 2014 |
Social Security
Most people are unaware their social security benefits can be taxed. Maybe it’s because they don’t think about it; they think they’re too young or they just don’t fully understand the effect of these taxes. Fortunately through proper retirement distribution planning either some or all of these taxes can be eliminated based on a person’s situation. But first, let’s discuss social security benefits. Interestingly enough, there are currently more than 1,000 different ways for married couples to draw these benefits. This number sounds overwhelming and...
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John P. Grimes |
March 25, 2014 |
Annuity Basics
We survived one of the toughest winters in recent memory and now it’s time to do some spring cleaning. I’m not talking about cleaning out the closets, garage, basement or shed but more importantly cleaning out your financial portfolio. We all have to pull our financial info together this time of year to complete our annual root canal, filing our taxes! This is a great time to take a look at your investments and insurance policies to see if they still meet your needs or...
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Todd D. Heckman |
March 24, 2014 |
Annuity Basics
Although “retirement income planning” has become a piece of common jargon in the financial industry, it’s not actually a great description of what’s really going on, or what you need. When people retire, their earned income typically plummets from something they are accustomed to live on, to something closer to zero. So they do need to replace that income in some fashion. For most people, Social Security does at least part of the job. Many people also have a pension from recent or past employment,...
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Anton Hendler |
March 21, 2014 |
Fixed Annuities, Index Annuities
Given the current market uncertainty we thought it a good time to revisit the question of Fixed Index Annuities (FIAs) and whether one can, in fact, gain without losing. The short answer is, of course, yes. But there are a few points that need to be made to properly explain what is meant by gaining and losing. Certainly with a FIA you will never share in any market losses. Your gains, if there is a gain, are ‘locked in’ on a set basis (usually every...
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