Comments on: Dateline NBC Investigates Equity-Indexed Annuities http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/ A personal finance blog dedicated to discussing such topics as budgeting, asset allocation, 401K, IRA, cash flow, insurance, financial planning, portfolio management, and other areas in personal finance. Fri, 25 May 2012 12:41:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Antonio http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-445925 Antonio Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:03:47 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-445925 I am an insurance agent out of Utah who deals with Indexed annuities. I knew that there were crooked salesmen out there, but damn... The problem here is the salesmen. Indexed annuities are legitimate investment products, and yes they have high surrender charges, but so do many other investment products including 401ks. I was just working on moving someone's money, and their 401k had a 20% surrender charge! You aren't supposed to use that money for anything but retirement, leave it there to grow. The way I was trained, every detail good and bad should be explained, including surrender charges. Annuities aren't for everyone, but they are legit. One last thing, no one should ever put all their money in one place, Diversity is extremely important. One should have three sources of income while in retirement, this does not include social security. I am an insurance agent out of Utah who deals with Indexed annuities. I knew that there were crooked salesmen out there, but damn… The problem here is the salesmen. Indexed annuities are legitimate investment products, and yes they have high surrender charges, but so do many other investment products including 401ks. I was just working on moving someone’s money, and their 401k had a 20% surrender charge! You aren’t supposed to use that money for anything but retirement, leave it there to grow. The way I was trained, every detail good and bad should be explained, including surrender charges. Annuities aren’t for everyone, but they are legit. One last thing, no one should ever put all their money in one place, Diversity is extremely important. One should have three sources of income while in retirement, this does not include social security.

]]> By: Jason Gillette http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-444093 Jason Gillette Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:34:17 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-444093 I have worked in the backoffice (policy services, claims, fraud investigations and inforce illustrations) of a large insurance company for 13 years and now I am licensed insurance agent in Florida. I very rarely saw agents not conducting themselves professionally. Most of them were hardworking people making a living just like anyone else. There is nothing wrong with equity indexed annuities. It is good investment vehicle. Better than any CD at the bank. There is nothing wrong with an insurance agent making commission on selling one to a customer. Every salesperson make some kind of commission on what they personally sell. "Dateline NBC" is sensational journalism, nothing more. The show's producers use all sorts of lingo and special effects to make something look shady. Please realize "Dateline NBC" is an entertainment show, not a factual news show. Do your own research when looking for things to invest in. As a licensed insurance agent, I only provide my clients the information they need to make a informed decision regarding their individual situation. I have worked in the backoffice (policy services, claims, fraud investigations and inforce illustrations) of a large insurance company for 13 years and now I am licensed insurance agent in Florida. I very rarely saw agents not conducting themselves professionally. Most of them were hardworking people making a living just like anyone else. There is nothing wrong with equity indexed annuities. It is good investment vehicle. Better than any CD at the bank. There is nothing wrong with an insurance agent making commission on selling one to a customer. Every salesperson make some kind of commission on what they personally sell. “Dateline NBC” is sensational journalism, nothing more. The show’s producers use all sorts of lingo and special effects to make something look shady. Please realize “Dateline NBC” is an entertainment show, not a factual news show. Do your own research when looking for things to invest in. As a licensed insurance agent, I only provide my clients the information they need to make a informed decision regarding their individual situation.

]]> By: Vivien http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-441259 Vivien Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:43:30 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-441259 Why did this blog stop in April of 2009? Perhaps everyone started making money in the market and forgot about annuities? I maybe very dumb financially but investigating and reading about annuities and trying to decide which is the best that works for me, is like finding a "needle in a haystack", especially with all the "commission hungry" salespeople. Is there anyone out there that would like to talk to me regarding which annuity would be best for ME and not for your commission profit? If so, please contact me. Thanks. Why did this blog stop in April of 2009? Perhaps everyone started making money in the market and forgot about annuities?
I maybe very dumb financially but investigating and reading about annuities and trying to decide which is the best that works for me, is like finding a “needle in a haystack”, especially with all the “commission hungry” salespeople.
Is there anyone out there that would like to talk to me regarding which annuity would be best for ME and not for your commission profit? If so, please contact me. Thanks.

]]> By: Jason http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-416369 Jason Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:31:51 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-416369 I assume by VRA you mean a Variable Annuity. You may not be missing anything. However keep the following in mind. The 7% guaranteed return will NOT be on the cash, or lump sum, or walk away value, but rather used as a calculation to determine how much yearly income you can take at some point in the future. In 15 years the cash value could be far below your $40,000 if you want a lump-sum. Or it could be way above $40,000. What you will have in 15 years is an "income account" worth at least $110,000. How much of the $110,000 will you be allowed to take out each year? It will depend on how old you are at the time, but probably in the 5%-6% range, so $5500-$6600 per year. If you post the exact name of the annuity and the income rider I will research it and tell you exactly how it works. The biggest thing to understand is that you are not guaranteed 7% growth per year as a cash value. That does not make the product bad but many agents are purposely vague on this detail. Just make sure you understand exactly how it works. It offers peace of mind for income guarantees only, not cash values. I assume by VRA you mean a Variable Annuity. You may not be missing anything. However keep the following in mind. The 7% guaranteed return will NOT be on the cash, or lump sum, or walk away value, but rather used as a calculation to determine how much yearly income you can take at some point in the future. In 15 years the cash value could be far below your $40,000 if you want a lump-sum. Or it could be way above $40,000. What you will have in 15 years is an “income account” worth at least $110,000. How much of the $110,000 will you be allowed to take out each year? It will depend on how old you are at the time, but probably in the 5%-6% range, so $5500-$6600 per year. If you post the exact name of the annuity and the income rider I will research it and tell you exactly how it works. The biggest thing to understand is that you are not guaranteed 7% growth per year as a cash value. That does not make the product bad but many agents are purposely vague on this detail. Just make sure you understand exactly how it works. It offers peace of mind for income guarantees only, not cash values.

]]> By: Jeff http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-414738 Jeff Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:27:30 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-414738 I am looking at rolling my Roth IRA into a VRA that has a 7% guaranteed annual return, if the market doesn't out produce that rate. Yes, the internal management fees are around 3% compared to my current 1.3% in my mutual fund Roth. I am willing to tie up $40,000 in this product for some 7% return piece of mind, knowing that I have $320,000 in my 401k that remains open to market risk until I retire in 16 years. I will continue to make my maximum Roth contribution each year for my wife and I, and put 15% of my income in the 401k. This seems like a no brainer to me. Tell me what I am missing. I am looking at rolling my Roth IRA into a VRA that has a 7% guaranteed annual return, if the market doesn’t out produce that rate. Yes, the internal management fees are around 3% compared to my current 1.3% in my mutual fund Roth. I am willing to tie up $40,000 in this product for some 7% return piece of mind, knowing that I have $320,000 in my 401k that remains open to market risk until I retire in 16 years. I will continue to make my maximum Roth contribution each year for my wife and I, and put 15% of my income in the 401k. This seems like a no brainer to me. Tell me what I am missing.

]]> By: Matt Robbins http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-409301 Matt Robbins Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:20:35 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-409301 The story was supposssed to be on EIAs, while the story was on crooked reps who are greety and lie. They make it harder for an honest advisor like myself amd my peers to do our jobs. I m not saying EIAs are good or bad.I have never sold one. I generally will use a VA with a living benefit rider, and sometimes fixed. With that said, for some people they are a good product. It depends on the person and what their financial needs are. Dateline should have spent more time on explaining that this was about poor salesman not about annuitties. The story was supposssed to be on EIAs, while the story was on crooked reps who are greety and lie. They make it harder for an honest advisor like myself amd my peers to do our jobs. I m not saying EIAs are good or bad.I have never sold one. I generally will use a VA with a living benefit rider, and sometimes fixed. With that said, for some people they are a good product. It depends on the person and what their financial needs are. Dateline should have spent more time on explaining that this was about poor salesman not about annuitties.

]]> By: Peter http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-406595 Peter Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:01:50 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-406595 With the market down (so much) and a lot of investors with over 40% losses. It looks like the equity index annuity may not be a dumb idea. Sham on NBC misleading investors and causing thousands of people to avoid the one investment that would have not lost them $ and is not a market timing investment! With the market down (so much) and a lot of investors with over 40% losses. It looks like the equity index annuity may not be a dumb idea. Sham on NBC misleading investors and causing thousands of people to avoid the one investment that would have not lost them $ and is not a market timing investment!

]]> By: mike http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-308073 mike Tue, 13 May 2008 02:13:40 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-308073 Remember that NBC's job is not to "expose the thuth," but to sell comercials!!!! First, not all EIA's are the same...DUH, do you homework. Ford, Toyota and Ferrari all make cars and there are many similarities, but there are also differences!!! Second, it is a CONTRACT! When you established your cell phone service, it was done on a contractual basis....Try and cancel before the term is up!!! READ and understand the contract. If someone had a negative experience with an EIA, verify the contract stipulations relayed by the agent and also the credibility of the Ins Co, Many of them are truly legit products, despite what "popular opinion" is. You and i wouldn't be here if Christopher Columbus would have listened to "popular opinion" Remember that NBC’s job is not to “expose the thuth,” but to sell comercials!!!!
First, not all EIA’s are the same…DUH, do you homework. Ford, Toyota and Ferrari all make cars and there are many similarities, but there are also differences!!!
Second, it is a CONTRACT! When you established your cell phone service, it was done on a contractual basis….Try and cancel before the term is up!!! READ and understand the contract.
If someone had a negative experience with an EIA, verify the contract stipulations relayed by the agent and also the credibility of the Ins Co, Many of them are truly legit products, despite what “popular opinion” is. You and i wouldn’t be here if Christopher Columbus would have listened to “popular opinion”

]]> By: JLP http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-301817 JLP Sat, 03 May 2008 04:12:16 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-301817 David, That was spoken like a true insurance salesman. Thanks for the mature response. You're going a long way in adding credibility to insurance salesmen everywhere! David,

That was spoken like a true insurance salesman. Thanks for the mature response. You’re going a long way in adding credibility to insurance salesmen everywhere!

]]> By: David Voegele http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/comment-page-1/#comment-301791 David Voegele Sat, 03 May 2008 03:30:19 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/04/15/dateline-nbc-investigates-equity-indexed-annuities/#comment-301791 The Dateline piece was extremely misleading and was intended to sensationalize rather than inform. Many index annuities are a good products and fit into a conservative portfolio. Not everyone is interested in taking market risk. Most of the opposition is generated by advisors who are attempting to hang on to market share. As for Lori Swanson, I doubt she knows much about indexed annuities past what Chris Hansen encouraged her to say. Any one of the agents who was "exposed" on Dateline could probably whip her ass when it come to almost any level of financial knowledge. The Dateline piece was extremely misleading and was intended to sensationalize rather than inform. Many index annuities are a good products and fit into a conservative portfolio. Not everyone is interested in taking market risk. Most of the opposition is generated by advisors who are attempting to hang on to market share. As for Lori Swanson, I doubt she knows much about indexed annuities past what Chris Hansen encouraged her to say. Any one of the agents who was “exposed” on Dateline could probably whip her ass when it come to almost any level of financial knowledge.

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