Podcast

In this episode, The Annuity Man and John Lenz discuss laddering MYGAS, reasons for buying a QLAC, suitability regulations and more.

A standalone, traditional long-term care insurance works just like health, auto, or homeowner insurance. You own a policy, and if you need long-term care, the company will pay the benefits, and you will stop paying premiums.

This is a simple, simple industry with simple, simple solutions. The people that are making it complex are the agents and advisors selling the products in a complex way, instead of stripping it down to the basics.

Bill Black is the President of W.H. Black and Company and has been in the pension administration business for over 40 years. He is also responsible for the marketing efforts of PensionSpecialist.net – a full-service pension administration company that helps advisors nationally with the sale and administration of qualified pension plans.

With QLACs, SPIAs, and DIAs, there's no annual phase. There's no market attachment; it’s a straight transfer risk. You're saying to the issuing QLAC company, here's the money, and you are on the hook to pay me, or me and my wife, or me and my husband forever as long as one of us is breathing, but you don't get to keep a penny.

The biggest psychological hurdle to buying an annuity is the fear of missing out. You need to overcome the fear of missing out on market returns and replace it with the fear of missing out on your chapter two, where you should live the life you have earned.

Annuities are a bunch of products that have as much that are unalike as they are alike. Each one is a tool for particular kinds of people in particular kinds of life for different kinds of risk management.

"My grandfather always told me, ‘If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.’ That is our business model." — Stan The Annuity Man.

The difference between “Fee-Only” and “Fee-Based” financial planning is like night and day or apples and oranges. With your non-annuity assets, you need to ensure you are using “Fee-Only” because that advisor’s interests align with yours. That’s the pure definition of what a fiduciary should be.

Larry Kotlikoff is one of the most fascinating guests I’ve ever had on my Fun With Annuities podcast. Because I’m a perpetual marketer and brander, I was astonished by the value of the software products that Larry has developed and offers to both consumers and financial advisors.

There’s a lot of annuity products out there. Not all of them are great. Not all of them are perfect, but all of them are contractual. So you have to look at the contractual guarantees of the policy. I always tell people don’t buy the dream, because you’re gonna own the contractual reality.

I have always said that the annuity industry has earned a bad reputation, and it continues to create an unneeded black mark with how many current Indexed Annuity products are sold. For the record, I am a huge fan of the Indexed Annuity strategy. It was created in 1995 to offer potential "better than CD" returns while offering full principal protection. FIAs (Fixed Index Annuities) are not market return products but are pushed that way by too many agents showing overblown and misleading back-tested return scenarios to convince retirees to buy.

As you may know, my parents were college basketball coaches at one time. My sister won 3 state championships as a great player in high school, and I played Division 1 college basketball as well and set shooting accuracy records that will never be broken. Growing up, there were always discussions around game plans and how to beat the upcoming opponent or team.

Martin “Marty” Parlato is a star. He is controversial. He is smart. And he seems to be always right about the markets. As a warning, he is not politically correct or woke. This is not a soft-landing spot or a warm-fuzzy-feeling podcast guest. This is how you would like politicians and market pundits to talk. Brutal. Factual. Not mincing words. The only proof that the world is not fair is that Jim Cramer is the lead mouthpiece for CNBC, not Marty Parlato. He’s that good.

I loved having Terry Savage back on Fun With Annuities to discuss the current financial environment. In volatile and chaotic times like these, it’s time for professionals to weigh in, and Terry is definitely a pro.