Article

Today let’s talk about QLACs, how to use IRA money for lifetime income, how that all sets up, why QLACS are even on the planet, and if it might be a fit for you. It might not be after you take a look at it. Just understand, with QLACs and all annuities, every single time, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Annuities are contracts.

The question is, how does the economy affect annuity rates? That's a fundamental question to a very detailed answer because annuities are not all the same. The economy affects annuities differently. How does the economy affect annuity rates and annuities in general? Well, let's look at a myriad of ways.

So if you're not familiar with MYGAs, let me go through it quickly. Multi-year guarantee annuity, that's what MYGA stands for. It's the annuity industry's version of a CD. It's very simple; there are no moving parts, there are no market attachments, and you're going to get a guaranteed interest rate for a specific period that you choose.

Shopping for annuities. First of all, understand that regardless of what you hear from an agent or an advisor, annuities are commodity products. There's not one annuity that's better than the other annuity, et cetera.The first thing you need to understand is that there's not a one size fits all product, even though there are many people out there promoting that they have that.

So, annuity companies, how do they make money? There's a reason that annuity companies have significant buildings and that they do very, very well. Why? It's because they know when we're going to die. Property and casualty companies, however, don't know when the hurricane's going to hit. They don't know when the tornado's going to hit.

So you’re looking into exclusion ratios for immediate annuities, SPIAs, also known as Single Premium Immediate Annuities. In essence, the short answer to the exclusion ratio is that, with immediate annuities lifetime income stream, you're going to get a combination of return of principal plus interest based on your life expectancy at the time you make the payment.

The question you have asked, which I'm going to answer quickly, is, “are annuities FDIC insured?”

What does the maturity day on an annuity mean? Great question. Why do companies put maturity dates on policies? We will go over what that means, what your choices are, etc., so that when you get your policy and this maturity date on the policy, you'll understand precisely what to do.

So what is a cost basis on an annuity? I'm going to talk about the cost basis of all different types of annuities, the deferred annuities, the income annuities, and how that affects the annuity you're coming from an annuity that you're going to.

We're going to talk about laddering investments and protecting your principal all at the same time. You need to understand the contract before you buy anything, right? The only urgency is to understand, not the urgency to buy.

So all of us want to take care of our loved ones financially. I mean, that's a goal. There's a myriad of ways to do that but of the best ways, and I don't sell this product, is life insurance which happens to be the best wealth transfer to your beneficiaries as possible.

What happens when your annuity provider goes bust? Can you lose money in your annuity? Does the state ensure fixed annuities? I understand the fears that you might have about the safety of your annuity. We're going to cover it all, and we're going to start by talking about state guarantee funds.

Okay, so let's talk about single premium immediate annuity's acronym, SPIA, S-P-I-A. They are the oldest annuity type on the planet and were introduced in Roman times as a pension gift, a lifetime income stream gift to the dutiful Roman soldiers and their families for laying it on the line for the empire.

So, is an annuity a good investment for an older person, a retiree, a senior citizen, a World War II generation? This is a big-time serious topic. And I'm going to go through it in detail so that you can make a good decision, whether it's you out there making the decision for yourself, or you're making a decision for your mom or dad or somebody like that.

Is an annuity affected by the stock market? The stock market and annuities are giant topics, and some are affected by the stock market, and some aren't. We're going to go through every single type of annuity, single premium, immediate annuities, deferred income annuities, QLACs, multi-year guarantee annuities, index annuities, variable annuities, all of them.