Take Personal Responsibility for Your Money

Hi, my name is Stan The Annuity Man, and I'm licensed in all 50 states. I'm known as America's annuity agent because I tell the brutal truth about these products, which needs to happen. I have a T-shirt on that says, "Nothing in moderation." I do nothing in moderation, and it includes educating people about annuities. I don't rest. I write blogs and YouTube videos every single day, Monday through Friday. I am on a mission to educate everyone on annuities and whether they fit their specific situation. Let's just be upfront, I do sell annuities. That's how I make my living, but I'm the top guy out here. But that doesn't mean you need an annuity. In fact, there are a lot of cases where you don't.

When people call me, I always ask them two questions, "What do you want the money to contractually do?" and "When do you want those contractual guarantees to happen?" From those two answers, I'd say 30% of the time, when people schedule an appointment with us, we’ll say, "Hey, under those parameters of what you gave me, your goals, you should never buy an annuity. Period." I am fine with saying that, and if we have a conversation, I'll say the same thing to you. But I want to talk to you about taking responsibility for your money today.

Check Off Those Boxes

I know we live in a world where there are advisors, and you go to your bank, and the banker's trying to sell you something, and you go to the Bad Chicken Dinner seminar, and the annuity guys are trying to sell something. I also understand that there are the Vanguards and the Infidelities and all these online services where you can manage your own money and take responsibility for your own money. But it's a lot bigger than that. It's almost like your health. You have to take responsibility for being healthy, eating well, and exercising. As you get older, make sure that you check off all those boxes personally to live a very good life.

The same thing applies when it comes to annuities. What makes me mad is seeing people not taking responsibility for their money. You've worked hard. Most people that are reading this, and I'm assuming that's you right now. You're reading and taking your time out, and I appreciate that. But you've worked hard for your money.

At the Finish Line

Years and years and decades and decades and scrimped and saved in 401(k)s and the matching of the employers and putting up with crap at work and not liking your job. You've laid it on the line for you and your family. You've laid it on the line and you're at the finish line. You're there in retirement or thinking about retirement and you've got this large amount of money. Don't just hand it to somebody and say, "I trust them." It might work out, but you know what? It might not and you do not have time to make a mistake. There are 10,000 baby boomers retiring every single day while hitting that retirement age of 65. 10,000 people a day, seven days a week. That's a lot. It's a demographic tidal wave, period. When you're at that stage or close to it, think of it like running four laps around a track for a mile. You're at lap three and a half. You're there. You can see the finish line. You're getting ready to put your head across it and break the tape. You cannot afford to make a mistake. You cannot afford to trust someone across the table who says, "Oh, I got this. I've got the risk for you. I'll manage that risk for you." I heard that before. You have to take responsibility to do your homework. You have to take responsibility to understand your risk tolerance. That's a big one. Do we all want the next Apple or The Beyond Meat company, that veggie burger that went up about a hundred percent? Of course, we do. We all want that. We all want to be that Gordon Gekko person. But you're not that person and I'm not that person. You've never been that person. I've never been that person. Stop trying to be that person. From here on in, when you take responsibility for your money, what I'm going to tell you to do is a baseball analogy. I need you to hit bunt singles. I don't need you to hit singles. I don't need you to hit doubles. I certainly don't need you swinging for triples. And holy crap, do I not want you hitting home runs. Because you can't go backward. Remember the three-and-a-half lap scenario? You're right there. You need to hit bunt singles. You're at the principal preservation stage of your life. You don't need to lose any money. You just need to make some. Or you don't need to lose any money. You just need more income, guaranteed. And make sure contractually that if you die, if your Learjet hits the mountain, 100% of any unused money goes to the beneficiaries.

You've Worked Hard

Why? Why is that important? Because you've worked hard for it. You've worked hard for it. You don't want the evil annuity company to keep a penny of it unless you say, "Stan, that's what I want because I hate my family." I'm down with that too. But most people, 99%, don't want that. You've worked too hard for it. I don't care if it's $50,000, $200,000, $400,000, $10 million. If it's a lot of money to you, then it's a lot of money. There are no minimums when you work with Stan The Annuity Man. Why? I grew up in rural North Carolina with zero money. My family didn't have money. They worked in the mills, and they were farmers.

That's it. That's where I come from. The reason I even got in the business of financial services, and yes, I was with Dean Witter and Paine Weber and Morgan Stanley and UBS, the reason that I was in the industry is because I did not understand how all these other people were buying stocks and all that stuff, and my whole family wasn't. Who are those other people and why aren't we doing that? That's why I was in it and have been in it since day one. From the moment I stepped out of college, I've done that. I've taken responsibility for the money. I learned about it. I need you to do the same thing. I need you to tap into our resources. Whether it's these blogs, my YouTube videos, my six books you can get for free, or having a non-pressure conversation with us. You need to get educated, period.

You've Got One More Step

You need to take responsibility for your money. You took the responsibility to build it up. Now, you've got one more step. Take responsibility for that lump sum to make sure that you are doing the right thing for yourself, the right thing for your family, and the right thing for your legacy, period. And I know you know this. I know you're saying, "Stan, why are you yelling at me?" Because I see people make mistakes. And when you get to the finish line, when you're at lap three and a half, you can't make mistakes. You can't take those risks anymore. Just like an old person like me, I can't run up and down a basketball court anymore. Why? Because my knees will blow out. Same thing when it comes to money. You can't do the things you used to do when you were young when you had time to make it back.

You need to take responsibility for that. You need to shift your thinking. You need to shift from taking risks and shouldering risks to transferring the risks. You do. You know that's true. That's why you're here reading this with me. With that, I encourage you to use all the resources we offer at The Annuity Man under no pressure, obligation, or cost.

Use our calculators. Go through the gamut of annuities. Learn it all. And you might say, "Hey, you know what? I don't need an annuity." That's fine. But at least do your research. Don't take someone's word for it. Would you take someone's word for it? Let me end with this. If someone told you that you had cancer, if you had a doctor that said you had cancer, and I can say that because I'm a melanoma survivor. So, I'm not just whistling Dixie here. If someone said that, would you just take that person's word? Are you going to see somebody else and say, "You know what? Do I have cancer? Are you going to get a second opinion on that? Are you going to verify? Are you going to do your homework? Are you going to take responsibility?" What's the difference when it comes to your money? What's the difference? There is no difference. And you know what? It's as severe and vital for you to take that type of attitude with your money because, as you know, are all those people behind you, the wife, the kids, everybody? They're dependent on it. I'm Stan The Annuity Man.

Client Example

Here's what can happen when you make the wrong decision. Let's just take recent events where markets are just so volatile. I told someone the other day that when I was working with the big firms, the Morgan Stanleys, Dean Witters, UBS, and Paine Webber, things that happened a year back then are happening in a day right now. Five hundred points moves, you'll see it in a day. Back then, we'd see it in a year if we were lucky. So, how can you make a mistake? I had a person call the other day, and this was tragic. This was a tragic story, and I kicked myself a little bit.

But part of what I do as The Annuity Man is not high-pressure anybody. I present you with the facts. I present you with the best quotes. I educate you, and then I leave you alone to make a decision on your terms and on your timeframe. I never push ever, ever. This person and I had been talking, and he wanted to, in this case, buy an Immediate Annuity and set up a lifetime income stream for his family. It was a big decision because it was a big number.

It was a big number. And I said, "Hey, take your time. Take your time on that, all right?" Because it is a big decision whether you want to transfer the risk or shoulder the risk. So, what happened? Markets get hit. He calls me crying, a grown man, age 75. He was crying and mad at me for not making him buy the annuity. And I said, "Just slow down there." We'll call him Chester because I'll call everybody Chester. Said, "Slow down, Chester. I don't do that. I don't push people into anything. It's your decision." He had lost $600,000 in the market dip. He was 75. He didn't have the time to make that up. Now, hopefully, markets will return so that he can get part of that. But I don't think so. Maybe they will, but I think he sold a lot of it. He panicked and sold, so he lost $600,000 in his stock portfolio.

I'm not saying stocks are bad, mutual funds are bad, and ETFs are bad. But there's a time and place for everything. There's a time and place for risk tolerance. There's a time and place to take some of that risk off the table. And that's a horrific story where a grown man just saw it all disappear. Poof.

I'm encouraging you to take responsibility for your money. Take a look at your portfolio. How much risk are you shouldering and how much risk are you transferring? And that's not some annuity pitch. I'm not pitching you an annuity. I'm pitching you to take responsibility because I don't want another grown man calling me crying. I don't want that. But you know what? It's going to happen because everybody wants to be the big hitter. Everybody wants that extra couple of percentage points. I'm telling you, it's not worth it. What's worth it is lifestyle, and that's what I want you to focus on. I'll see you on the following Stan The Annuity Man blog.

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