Annuity Free Look Period

Hey, internet land. Stan The Annuity Man here, America's annuity agent, licensed in all 50 states. I sell a ton of annuities, but I'm an educator, which is why you're here. You asked the question about the annuity free look period. I'm going to quickly answer it, which is, it depends on your state, but it's typically anywhere from 10 to 30 days.

Free Look Example

All right. So this guy called me the other day, and he goes, "Hey, Stan. I'm not sure I really want this annuity." And he was buying an Immediate Annuity, which is a pension annuity. First of all, I said, "Hey, if you're not sure, don't buy it." And he goes, "No, no, no. My wife wants me to get it because it's a pension annuity. I'm just hesitant." And here's what I told him. Annuities are the only product on the planet that allows you to test drive it, own it, get the policy, have the policy delivered to you, the policy's enforced, and you don't have to give any reason; you can get your money back. He was stunned by that, and he actually did that. And long story short, he kept the policy because he read the policy, etc. But annuities are the only financial product on the planet that allows you to get the policy, the policy's enforced, and you don't have to give a reason at all. You call the carrier or me and say, "No, I don't want to do that anymore. Things have changed. I want my money back." And you will get your money back in full. That's a pretty darn good deal, and nobody can tell you that. Try that with your mutual fund guy. Buy the mutual fund and see if you can get your money back.

With all annuity types, there's a free look period. Let's get down and dirty on how you find out the free look period for your state. So where do you go to find out about the state guarantee fund? Let's go back a little bit. Annuities, Fixed Annuities are regulated at the state level. Each state has its own rule for its free look period. Here's the website, nolhga.com. Go there. That's the National Organization of Life and Health Guaranty Association. When you go there, they'll have a dropdown that you can pull your state where you reside, your residence, and then under that, it'll pull up your state website. You'll hit frequently asked questions, and then there'll be a litany of questions, how much is protected, blah, blah, blah. And there you will find out the free look time period.

What to Tell Your Agent

Typically, like I said, depending on your state, and I'm licensed in all 50 states because I love all 50 states. I'm an American. I love America because I'm America's annuity agent, right? You're going to find out what the time period is. It's typically 10 to 30 days. And that time period, that clock starts ticking the day that policy is delivered to you, including weekends. It's not some workday thing. So, my advice to you is, if you buy an annuity, whether it's from Stan The Annuity Man, hopefully, the best decision you'll ever make because we love you. We love our clients. We take care of you. But when you get the policy, you can either call me and say, "Explain this." Or you can call the carrier directly, circumvent that agent, and say, "All right, I've got the policy. I bought the policy. I'm under the free look time period. Explain this, explain this, explain this." And if it doesn't jive with what you want or what was told to you, then get your money back. How about that? That's a good deal. I mean, why doesn't everybody have a free look period? There are some common sense answers to that, but I think it sets annuities apart.

Make Sure You’re Comfortable

Now somehow, in the world of I hate all annuities and annuities all stink and annuities are expensive, and I hate Stan, I hate everything about annuities, it's tough to argue against the free look period because you're test-driving. It's like going to a car lot, test-driving a car, and saying, yeah, I like that car. It's good. I don't think I am going to buy it, but I wanted to test-drive it. Same thing with annuities. And with many complicated products, if you go into the bad chicken dinner seminar and bought that Index Annuity that sounds too good to be true, there really is a CD product, but you think it's bigger than that. You can get that policy, read that policy, call the carrier, and say, "My agent told me this. My agent said, hey, it's going to do this and this and this, and it's going to slice the bread, and it's going to be better than ever. And it's unicorns chasing the butterflies. It's perfect." And then you call them, and you find out it might not be perfect. It might have some things in there that weren't explained to you. You bought the sizzle, not the steak. The free look period allows you to return to steakdom and find out what you own. Because remember this, the free look time period is a way to drive home this point. Annuities are contracts, and you're going to get a contract called a policy in the mail. You're going to own a contract, and guess what that annuity will do, regardless of the type of annuity you buy? It's going to do what's in the contract. So the free look period allows you to understand what's in the contract, even though you already own it, and give you the flexibility to get out. That's a good thing. And remember that website, nolhga.com.

Hey, thanks for hanging in there with me so far. There's a video I made on what annuities are commonly used for. You should watch that because I go through the details of each specific type of annuity and then where they apply and where they might fit in your portfolio, so click that. Also, if you want quotes, you can get no-obligation quotes on the best annuity website on the planet. We quote all carriers. If you have any questions about annuities, you can also book a call with me. Talk to you next time!

Never forget to live in reality, not the dream, with annuities and contractual guarantees! You can use our calculators, get all six of my books for free, and most importantly book a call with me so we can discuss what works best for your specific situation.