Congress is Investigating Annuity Sales Part II

I decided to write a follow up to my previous article titled, “Congress is Investigating Annuity Sales for good reason” because the response was significant. There are many investors out there who are in the same boat when it comes to annuities. The common denominator amongst everyone I spoke to is that none of them really understand the product they own and that all of them were basically stuck in the product due to the high cost of surrendering or selling the annuity they currently own. I also believe that if time travel existed, most of these investors would go back to the date they signed the annuity contract and not invest. I will go back to what I have written in the past and try and reinforce my point. “DO NOT INVEST IN SOMETHING YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND”. “DO NOT INVEST IN A PRODUCT THAT MAKES YOU PAY A PENALTY TO SELL IT”. There is a reason the insurance company puts a surrender charge on the product they sell. It’s so you stay in the product and they can collect expensive fees for themselves. There is a reason that the biggest buildings in the biggest cities are owned by insurance companies. It’s because they take advantage of the consumer on a daily basis. How many times has your insurance premium on your car or home gone down versus up? Look, there are annuities out there that are appropriate to own. I am not going to sit here and say they are all bad. I will say that most of the ones that come across my desk are not good for the investor, but they are great for the broker who sold it. Most of these products are extremely expensive to own and do not provide the investor with what was promised. I would encourage anyone who owns an annuity to make sure you understand it. I would also invite anyone who does not to call or email me. I will review and explain your investment to you thoroughly at no charge. As Registered Investment Advisors, we cannot collect the commission’s only fees on the money we manage. We can be reached at (772) 223-9686.