Annuities Question - Page 3

Bookbabe · ‎04-17-2010

I first want to say that the women who responded to you on this forum have made some really good suggestions and in my opinion are pretty smart.

Second, I sold annuities for 20 years and have seven of my own and am now a couple years older than you and I am very happy with them BUT I have moved my index ones into fixed ones within the last 5 years because I feel some growth is better than none at all.

BUT MY BEST SUGGESTION to you is go see a "fee based financial planner" Yes, you will need to pay him for the consult BUT That way he does not want to sell you anything and I believe will advise you as to what is in your best interest.

Best of Luck

Bookbabe

Mmsfoxxie · ‎06-19-2010

@Bookbabe, thanks for the response, especially your last paragraph which echoes a couple of other posters.

Question, though: how is your fixed annuities having growth? I was told that if I moved from my fixed into the indexed, I would either have growth or stay the save but never lose any money.

“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore to be happy”. (By Nightbirde, singer of the song, It’s Ok)

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

My planner has the ability to offer annuities and has always advised against using them. He says the only person who benefits from them is the insurance salesman that sells them to you bc annuities are basically insurance vehicles, and the commissions from them are pretty large. Heard the concept behind them explained on a radio show one day and the question was posed - "if all other savings vehicles are making 1-2%, how do you think annuities can offer 7", then went on to explain it. I forget the actual details behind it but when explained it made perfect sense.

magicmoodz · ‎03-16-2010

@Bookbabe wrote:
I first want to say that the women who responded to you on this forum have made some really good suggestions and in my opinion are pretty smart.

Second, I sold annuities for 20 years and have seven of my own and am now a couple years older than you and I am very happy with them BUT I have moved my index ones into fixed ones within the last 5 years because I feel some growth is better than none at all.

BUT MY BEST SUGGESTION to you is go see a "fee based financial planner" Yes, you will need to pay him for the consult BUT That way he does not want to sell you anything and I believe will advise you as to what is in your best interest.

Best of Luck
Bookbabe

Call me a cynic, but it is my understanding that fee-based financial planners still make recommendations based on the commission they are paid from each investment vehicle.

I don't think we would be hearing about authorities cracking down on this practice if it weren't so.

The last financial planner we met with when thinking of making a change asked (as if he had a bad taste in his mouth) "who put this portfolio together for you?" Clearly a sales ploy to make us feel like our investments were questionable and we weren't making any money. Way too transparent and phony!

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

@Mmsfoxxie wrote:
@Bookbabe, thanks for the response, especially your last paragraph which echoes a couple of other posters.

Question, though: how is your fixed annuities having growth? I was told that if I moved from my fixed into the indexed, I would either have growth or stay the save but never lose any money.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-new-warning-on-indexed-annuities-1433526309

This product will limit your loses, but you will make only 2-3%. You have to ask your account advisor the growth percentage.

I have been a customer of Valic for 45 years. I would not be interested in a product like this.

IMO, Keep smiling and enjoy your fixed account.

http://patrickway.com/wp-content/uploads/file/Power%20Index%20brochure.pdf

CelticCrafter · ‎03-09-2010

@Mmsfoxxie wrote:
@Bookbabe, thanks for the response, especially your last paragraph which echoes a couple of other posters.

Question, though: how is your fixed annuities having growth? I was told that if I moved from my fixed into the indexed, I would either have growth or stay the save but never lose any money.

We have a fixed rate and we get 6% a year - but it's 10 years old. We can also add to it if we wanted to.

I don't know how true it is, but we were told by our FP that they don't sell those anymore - the kind you can add to.

fortune · ‎03-14-2010

I'm confused. If the interest rate is fixed, that's good. That means that you will continue to get that interest growth on your investment. If it's not fixed, it would probably drop just like all other interest rates do. Why would you tamper with it at all????? 7% is good. When does payout start? That's when then take out a certain amount, deduct taxes, and put it into your fixed savings account (if that's the arrangement you make).

My annunity is paying out quarterly. Because the interest rate is fixed, my annuity continues to grow. I still have about the same amount in the annuity as I did before payout because of earned interest.

Consult another financial advisor before changing your fixed annuity!! Also, be sure you do the paperwork to list the person you want to inherit the total remaining annuity upon your death.

febe1 · ‎01-22-2012

@CelticCrafter wrote:
@Mmsfoxxie wrote:
@Bookbabe, thanks for the response, especially your last paragraph which echoes a couple of other posters.

Question, though: how is your fixed annuities having growth? I was told that if I moved from my fixed into the indexed, I would either have growth or stay the save but never lose any money.
We have a fixed rate and we get 6% a year - but it's 10 years old. We can also add to it if we wanted to.
I don't know how true it is, but we were told by our FP that they don't sell those anymore - the kind you can add to.

My fixed for seven years can be added to; however, it diminishes in percentage rate on a time basis. You can also remove as much as l0% annually. Mine gets 4% and is six years old. It's tax deferred. The same contract is getting l% today....

Mmsfoxxie · ‎06-19-2010

Hi, @fortune. I'll have to take a look but with my fixed annuity, I didn't notice any interest. Must have been though. I've never paid much attention to it all of these 25 years. A certain about came out of my paychech before I got it, just like my medical, dental, etc.

At the job I had, we got paid for not taking sick days...at least it was that way before the last contract was made. I had over 200 sick days that I got paid for. I thought I'd get that money in a check as it used to be, one lump sum. The powers that be now roll that over to your existing annuity. So bam, I have this big annuity.

I'm 68 now. So I was told, starting at age 71 1/2, I will be getting an automatic payout. I see now by talking to you folks that I have a lot more to learn. I assumed the payout would be monthly like my pension but maybe it is quarterly.

I'm going to let this money sit where it is rather than do something I'll be sorry for.

“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore to be happy”. (By Nightbirde, singer of the song, It’s Ok)

millieshops · ‎03-09-2010

@Mmsfoxxie

Should you do what he's suggesting? I, for one, have no opinion - and that's as much because I don't know whether the annuity is your only retirement money, it's retirement play money, it's money you expect never to use yourself but want to leave it to children, etc. Any annuity has to fit a person's whole financial situation -- and we should not know all that in this kind of very public forum, so my advice and anyone else's really only gives you a path to walk along and learn, not a path that costs money.

Spoiler

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