Advocates Take Aim at Advisor Annuity Skepticism
November 15, 2022 by John Manganaro
Back in June 2018, a group of more than two dozen financial services companies came together to form the Alliance for Lifetime Income, with the objective of educating Americans about the importance of protected lifetime income solutions.
Since that time, the group has generated substantial online content, tools, thought leadership and even new terminology to simplify a complex (and at times controversial) topic. Now, in a new interview with ThinkAdvisor marking the group’s fifth anniversary in operation, Jean Statler, CEO at the Alliance for Lifetime Income, says 2023 will be a critical year for the group’s mission.
Click HERE to read the full story via ThinkAdvisor
Wink’s Note: I do NOT agree that “the public conversation around annuities has shifted from negative to positive in most circles.”
One scroll through my LinkedIn feed will tell you otherwise. Every day I see posts from those in financial services, who don’t sell annuities, questioning/poo poo’ing/bashing the products.
And let’s get real- advisory annuities are not “the great white hope” of the annuity industry. They only account for 2.21% of all sales right now. You cannot whitewash annuities by making it look like we’ve done our penance, and removed the commissions. That isn’t how this works.
Look- annuities used to have 20 year surrender charges and pay 14% commissions; they charged fees of 6.00% and generally were not too consumer friendly.
That isn’t today’s annuity.
Let’s talk about the reality of today’s products; I’ve seen the change. Annuities are mostly consumer-friendly now. And let’s put it out there- these products are really efficient at transferring the risk of living too long with a limited income. That cannot be dismissed.
So, I contend, annuities deserve another shot. If you need the facts, LMK. I am not an annuity advocate. In fact, I don’t care if you ever sell one. I just want you to have the facts. I don’t endorse any company or product, but have all the deets on annuities and life insurance products. -sjm
