Annuity Scams: Beware of Perfect Answers

One of my favorite sayings is “There are NO perfect annuity answers...just bad sales pitches.”

In times of stock market panic and volatility that none of us old timers have ever seen in our career, I think it’s important to explain what annuities actually do. There are many different types of annuities available, so it’s a good time to take a rational look at how these contracts work.

Recently, I have seen the Attorney General’s office clamping down on fictitious and misleading Coronavirus “cures” being pitched over the internet. Fear has always been a good sales tool, so get ready for the annuity ads and your local agents and advisors pushing their version of an “annuity cure all.”

To be fully transparent, I sell fixed annuities in all 50 states and am known as “America’s Annuity Agent.” However, I’m the first to scream from the mountain tops that annuities are not for everyone...and am worried that annuity sales people will prey upon current investor fears.

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…

As the old saying goes, “if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.” I actually add some verbiage to that by saying, “it is...every single time with annuities...no exceptions.”

Most people have their own “internal BS radar” that goes off in the back of your head when a salesperson is in full pitch mode. Whether you are buying a car, a mattress, or an annuity...you know when it doesn’t sound right.

If some eager agent or advertisement is pitching “market upside with no downside,” “7% guaranteed growth,” and an “upfront bonus,” you have to be smart enough not to fall for that. If such a product existed, then the FED would just buy that. Those 3 quoted lines are from too many Fixed Index Annuity (FIA) pitches. FIAs are good CD return products with full principal protection. The 7% is an income rider and “monopoly” money that you can’t access or cash in. You can only use it to calculate your first income payment. No...Jimmy Carter is not in office and neither are his high CD rates. As for the bonus, you know better than than. There are no philanthropists running annuity companies. The bonus is just part of the overall contractual guarantee. It’s not free money.

Tweet This!    As the old saying goes, “if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.”

‍ Own The Contractual Realities

Never be swayed by a non-guaranteed annuity proposal.

Another little catch phrase I use is, “don’t buy the dream because you will own the contractual realities.” Annuities are contracts issued by life insurance companies. The key word is contract. Always own an annuity for what it WILL DO (i.e. contractual guarantees), not what it might do.

By the way, fixed annuity products like Single Premium Immediate Annuities (SPIAs), Deferred Income Annuities (DIAs), Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts (QLACs), and Multi-Year Guarantee Annuities (MYGAs) are contractual guarantee only strategies. That’s your only choice, which is a good thing.

Never be swayed by a non-guaranteed annuity proposal. In a world where toilet paper is scarce, that proposal might come in real handy. Hypotheticals, theoretical, projected, or hopeful agent return numbers are what I call “unicorns chasing the butterflies.” In my decades in the business and the top independent agent in the country, I’ve never see a non-guaranteed proposal come true.

The newest trick in the indexed annuity space is for carriers to create an index out of thin air after running back-tested return scenarios for a desired annual growth range. Then the pitch is if you would have owned that newly created index (that is now offered in their indexed annuity) 10 years ago, you would have gotten fantastic market returns. Huh? Talk about hindsight is 20/20 nonsense. Some states are trying to outlaw this sale practice of back-testing a new index.

The bottom line is indexed annuities fully protect your principal and historically produced CD returns. That’s fantastic, and anyone in their right mind would be thrilled with 100% principal protection during very volatile times. The principal protection is the contractual reality that you should own and the primary reason to consider a FIA.

Annuity Statement of Understanding

The only protection you have in the wild wild west of annuity sales is to create your own statement of understanding. Here’s how it works. Whatever annuity sales pitch you hear, write it down word for word exactly how you hear and understand it. Be as detailed as possible.

Once you have written down everything about that product, how it was pitched, and how you understand it will work...sign and date the bottom of the page.

Now here’s the fun part. Turn the paper around and have that eager annuity agent sign and date it as well. If they sign it, they own it. If the pen weighs 1,000 pounds or they have to do some last minute clarifications, then you know who you are dealing with. Get up, get out, leave, game over.

Fall In Love With the Number

Regardless of what type of annuity contractual guarantee you are considering, buy the contractual guarantee. Fall in love with the number, not the carrier or the pitch. Annuities are commodity products and should be shopped with all carriers for the highest contractual guarantee for your specific situation.

Buy worst case scenario. Buy the contract. Don’t buy the dream. In these volatile, scary, and unpredictable times, it’s important to not let fear override your common sense.

Remember that there is never an urgency to buy an annuity contract. The only urgency is to fully understand the specific type of annuity, both benefits and limitations.