How To Buy An Annuity
October 31, 2022 by John Egan
Many retirees who would benefit from annuities generally avoid them. That’s a shame because Americans tend to underestimate how long they’ll live, and it means they’re missing out on one of the best reasons to choose annuities: longevity insurance.
Click HERE to read the full story via Forbes
Wink’s Note: really appreciated the spirit of this article, but there were a number of inaccuracies in it.
“Life insurance companies are a prominent provider of annuities, but they’re not the only source.”
Um, wrong.
While you can purchase annuities through “insurance agents, financial planners, brokerage firms and banks,” a life insurance company is still the source of annuities.
Oops! Looks like they forgot structured annuities as one of their “buckets.”
So many fail to realize that state insurance commissioners regulate variable annuities, in addition to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
And although you COULD get a payout from a deferred annuity “when the owner turns 85,” you can typically start receiving income at age 59.5. I was just concerned that they were implying you couldn’t get to your money earlier, the way this example was provided.
The “types of annuities” was kind of a mishmash of a bunch of annuity features. Weird.
Fortunately, qualified annuities do NOT have to be “purchased in certain workplace retirement plans.”
The one that got me the most though was that nearly no fixed annuities have fees. Come on, fella! – sjm
