Take a P.I.L.L. Before Buying an Annuity
Question: What should I expect an annuity to do? Why should I consider buying one? Fred from California
Answer: Let me start by annoying the “annuity sales gods” by saying that you might not need an annuity. Gasp! That’s right, annuities are not for everyone even though a lot of agents have a “one size fits all” mentality when it comes to selling them.
I have come up with an easy acronym to use to determine if an annuity might be a suitable and appropriate addition to your specific portfolio needs. That easy to remember word is P.I.L.L.
P – stands for Principal Protection
I – stands for Income for Life
L – stands for Legacy
L – stands for Long Term Care
Annuities are transfer of risk strategies that solve for a specific problem. For example, you can receive income for life from an insurance company regardless of how long you live by “transferring the risk” to the insurance company to provide that income stream. The same type of risk transfer can be applied to principal protection, providing a legacy for your family, or having coverage for long term care.
Notice that the letter “G” (which stands for growth) is NOT listed. I know that a lot of agents look at annuities as growth products, but I only feel that one type of annuity can be placed into the growth category. That one annuity type is a No Load Variable Annuity. The key word here is no load, which means 100% liquid with no surrender charges. No Load Variable Annuities are the best way to achieve tax deferred growth, are not sold by agents, and have to be purchased directly from the carrier.
All other annuities, in my opinion, should only be considered and owned for their contractual guarantees. An easy way to remember this is with the following phrase….”you should always own an annuity for what it WILL DO (i.e. contractual guarantees), not what it MIGHT DO (hypothetical or projected returns).” Agents love to show you past performance or project return scenarios in an effort to sell you the dream. Bring them back to “Realityville” and always ask to see “0” returns for the life of the annuity policy, so you can make your decision solely on the contractual guarantees.
That’s where the acronym P.I.L.L. comes in handy because it answers the question: “Do I need an annuity?” If you need principal protection, income for life, legacy, or long term care….then the answer might be yes. If you need to solve for any of those things, then you should at least explore the contractually guaranteed transfer of risk solution that an annuity can provide.
So what you really need to ask yourself Fred is “what do you want the money to do?” “What do you want the money to contractually solve for?” If one of those answers involves the P.I.L.L., then maybe an annuity might be right for your situation. If not, then don’t let some agent or advisor force you into an annuity product that you might not need.
*If you have a question for Stan The Annuity Man, please send your question to stan@stantheannuityman.com. He will answer all questions directly, and might include yours in his next Annuity123 “Ask Stan The Annuity Man” blog.
Click here to see more of Stan’s educational articles.
P.S. – Please share this article with others by simply clicking on the blue social media icons at the top of your screen!
Annuity123 does not offer insurance, investment, or tax advice. You should always seek the guidance of qualified and licensed professionals concerning your personal insurance, investment, or tax matters. Annuity123 is simply a platform allowing retirement planning professionals to help educate the community on various retirement planning topics. Annuity123 does not directly support or take responsibility for ensuring the accuracy of the content displayed in the articles themselves or any feedback that may get added in the Comments section from the community.
2 Comments