Annuity Benefits: 2 Unique Benefits That Annuities Offer

Hello there. My name is Stan The Annuity Man. I'm America's annuity agent licensed in all 50 states. Yes, I sell annuities, but that's not why we're here. We're here to educate you on all things annuity. Today, we will talk about the benefits only annuities offer. There are two unique benefits that we will discuss and go into detail about why it matters and why it's important as you consider an annuity in your portfolio.

Let's talk about annuity benefits. The first benefit I want to discuss that's unique to annuities, and I wonder why the annuity industry doesn't promote this more, is the free look period. Now, let's go backwards a little bit. Life insurance companies issue annuities. They're contracts. Fixed Annuities are regulated at the state level, so each state has a financial department, blah, blah, blah, of Iowa or Nebraska or Florida or Texas, whatever. I'm licensed in all 50 states. I'm very familiar with that. But annuities are the only financial product on the planet that you can test drive.

Free Look Period

You can literally own the annuity and have the policy in your hand, and then, for whatever reason, you don't have to give a reason or document a reason. You can get your money back. Now, the free look time period works differently for each state. I wish there was uniformity in the states and that it would just be a certain time period, but it's either 10 days or up to 30 days from the time you receive the policy.

Let's say you buy a policy from The Annuity Man, moi, that's French, and I send you the policy. When you receive the policy, the clock starts ticking. What that means is in most states, it's around the 20-day time period, from the time you receive it that day, you have 20 days to decide if you want to keep the policy, period. Now, I tell people that when you get the policy, look at it and ensure it's accurate. If you have any questions, don't call the agent. Of course, you can call us. We're going to tell you the truth. But I wouldn't call the agent. I would call the carrier. I would call the company that issued the policy and say, "Okay, got my policy. Let's go over it. Let me ask some questions as the consumer, as the person who owns the policy to make sure that what I thought I was buying, I'm actually getting." I would go through it with that carrier.

And by the way, the person you're going to get on the phone is not going to be some agent or salesperson. It's going to be a very nice customer service person who has no skin in the game other than to tell you the truth about the policy. What they're going to do is pull up that policy on the screen and answer your questions factually.

Let's say you were sold an over-hyped policy or were highly pressured into signing the paperwork. It sounded too good to be true, and you call in, and you say, "This is what the agent told me." And it turns out that's not how it works. You can ask for your money back, and the annuity company will send it to you without question. To me, that's phenomenal.

We're all used to going to a car dealership and driving a car, right? And then saying, "I don't like that car. I didn't like the way it drove. I didn't like the way the seats were, blah, blah, blah." With annuities, you can do the same thing. The only key, though, is you have to make that request to get your money back if you want to do that within that specific time period for the state. Now, inside the policy, when it's delivered, there will be a sheet of paper in every policy that says, "Here's the rule; here are the rules for your state. Here's your free look provision." If the agent takes it out, call the agent or contact the carrier and say, "What's the time period I have to make that decision?" And then take your time. Whether it's 10 or 30 days, or 20 days, that's enough time for you to understand that you bought what you thought you were going to buy. And I think that's just a fantastic provision.

You can't buy a mutual fund, stock, bond, or anything like that and get your money back, but with annuities, you can. And that's one thing the annuity industry has done, and they're not going to ever change it. And it's fantastic for the consumer because if you get sold the dream and figure out that you own the contractual reality, you can get your money back.

Client Example

I got a call the other day. Someone went to some of the bad chicken dinner seminars and was pressured into signing the paper, and they thought they were getting this too-good-to- be-true product. And they called me. Fortunately enough, they were in that free look time period. I asked them where they were from. We pulled up the free look period.

And I said, "Well, call the carrier, verify exactly what you were told, and if it wasn't what you thought you were going to get, then get your money back." And that's exactly what happened. The check came back. Obviously, the agent who sold it to him wasn't happy, but who cares about that? It's all about you, right?

Lifetime Income

Let's talk about the second annuity benefit that only annuities offer. That would be lifetime income. Annuities have a monopoly on lifetime income. Now, why don't you know that? I don't know. Why am I the only person telling you that? I don't know. Why isn't the annuity industry talking about that and only that? I don't know. In the pension less world that we live in, where you work for the company, you have the 401k, you get the gold watch hopefully, probably not. There are no pensions. Unless you work for the government or are part of a very strong union that has put in place pensions for their workers, you have to create lifetime income. There's only one product that does that. That's the annuity category.

Annuities started in Roman times when dutiful Roman soldiers and their families were given annual payments for life. Annua means payment in Latin. Yes, that's the only Latin word I know, but that's the original annuity. It was a lifetime income stream for the dutiful Roman soldiers and their families because they were laying it on the line for the empire.

Well, you're laying it on the line for your family. You're laying it on the line for yourself. Annuities are the only product that will pay you regardless of how long you live. I get calls all the time, "What if I lived to 130?" They're going to pay. "What if I lived to 150?" They're going to pay. That's the transfer of risk that annuities can only provide. It's the longevity risk. It's the fear of outliving your money. And most of us, unless we're a trust fund baby with millions of dollars, most of us need additional lifetime income, period. You need that income floor.

Social Security is a lifetime income strategy offered by the government, backed by the government. However, a Social Security payment is an annuity payment. But how do you get more lifetime income streams? You can only get it from annuities. With that being said, that doesn't mean everybody needs an annuity. But you have to understand that is a unique benefit proposition as well. So, what are the two unique benefit propositions that

only annuities offer? Free look time period, which is fantastic. You can test drive that annuity and get your money back if it was sold improperly, bought due to high pressure, or if things change in your life and you don't want it anymore. If you ask for the money back within that specific time period, you get your money back with no questions asked and no hassle. And then the other is lifetime income. And lifetime income is a benefit proposition that most of us need. With 10,000 baby boomers reaching retirement age every day, many are looking for retirement income, more retirement income, and Social Security. Those are the two unique benefit propositions that only annuities offer. So, you can't hate them too much, can you?

Never forget to live in reality, not the dream, with annuities and contractual guarantees! You can use our calculators, get all six of my books for free, and most importantly book a call with me so we can discuss what works best for your specific situation.