Comments on: Follow-up to the Great Annuity Rip-Off

By: » Roundup Linkfest on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

» Roundup Linkfest on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 13:01:09 +0000

[...] Flexo’s been writing a couple posts where applies financial metrics, usually used on analyzing the financials of companies, to personal finance; this time it’s using the debt to income ratio. Nickel authors an excellent post listing ten simple ways to protect yourself with regards to insurance. JLP writes a follow up to his post about the Great Annuity ripoff. FMF posts about how to keep the small spending under control when you budget. MBH did something to a roll of mint coins that was bad (I think he opened them), I’m not a coin collector so I didn’t really follow what he did but apparently hit cost him $15-$20. [...]

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 02:17:22 +0000

I am one of those lucky folks who was sold the dreaded Variable Deferred Annuity. My State Farm agent hooked me up with one when I was 23 and fresh out of college. The worst part is I wanted a Roth IRA. He even gave me the lit on a Roth. A few years down the road, I figured out I got screwed. State Farm’s answer: “You signed the forms, so you knew what you were doing.” THANKS GUYS! Guess who will never get MY business again!

By: Duane

Duane — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 19:53:21 +0000

JLP,

I seem to have caught the same bug as “yu now who”, as my comment was specifically directed at your or the site. Rather I was writing about a propensity in the free advice community for making blanket statements. Your site is actually an exception to the rule in this regard.

By: whoDean

whoDean — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:42:07 +0000

What percentage of folks who bought into an annuity belong in an annuity?

By: JLP

JLP — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 18:04:37 +0000

Duane,

Tell me where you see the words “always” and “never” in my blog post or the comments?

By: Duane

Duane — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:57:32 +0000

This problem is that one person’s “crap” investment may be ideal for another. Whenever I hear blanket advice, such as “never buy an annuity” or “never buy b-shares” or “always buy index funds” it is pretty good indicator that the message is without context or perspective.

The words “always” and “never” are a good tip off that the advice isn’t personal, and if it isn’t, should a person follow it? I don’t think so.

By: yu now who

yu now who — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 13:58:07 +0000

I publicly apologize for my rant. Please forgive me. I should have clicked delete instead of submit.

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 01:27:54 +0000

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to explain an annuity where the layman with little experience really knows what they are paying for. For example, they need to understand not only fees and commissions but also mortality table with or without projections to know what they are paying for. And, by the time all the legalese gets included, everything starts to spin.

By: MossysF

MossysF — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 01:04:37 +0000

Commissions suck — but paying commissions and doing something is usually better than doing nothing. Some people need that hand-holding just to get over their phobias.

By: JLP

JLP — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 00:28:16 +0000

yu,

You can pretty much figure that I’m not talking about you or the products you sell. I know you and I know that you do what’s best for your clients.