How To Buy an Annuity – Why People Rave About Our Process

I'm just going to pat myself, and my team, on the back because I'm going to rave about our process. Now, I have to credit how this has been set up. My CEO and Director of Operations. Very smart, has been in the industry a long time, and has put together the process and the best practices for when you become a client and how you go through that paperwork with us and how it works. What she's done and what her team has done has been fantastic. It makes me look very good on the surface, but you have to know that I am involved in that, but they are driving that train. We will talk about how that process works with The Annuity Man® if you decide to become one of our clients.

Direct to Consumer

So one of the things you need to know about our website is we are direct to consumers. We're licensed in all 50 states. I do not meet with clients face to face unless I just happen to run into you at an airport, and you see me with Stan The Annuity Man® gear on. But we do have Zoom calls and things like that, but we were doing that way before the COVID virus. I truly believe that if you own an annuity for what it will do, not what it might do®, so if you're buying it for the contractual guarantees, there's no sales process or sales pitch that needs to happen. We just need to provide you with the best information, get you fully educated on the product you're looking at, and make sure that it's suitable and appropriate so that you're not putting in too much money. And hopefully, you've gone to our site and run the quotes, see the videos, and listened to the podcasts.

Our Process

But once you say, "Hey, I want to move forward," here's how the process works. Typically, you're on the phone with me when you say that, and I will set a time for you to speak to one of my team members. They're going to call you exactly when you tell them to call. It will take about 20 to 30 minutes to fill out the paperwork online. They're going to ask you questions that we have to ask, confidential non-shared. Still, the industry requires us to ask them, and they're going to fill in the paperwork, and then they're going to send it to you, either hard copy or encrypted via email, you're going to sign and date it. Then really that's when we take care of everything from start to finish.

I got an email the other day from a brand new client. He emailed one of my team members who had taken the application and gone through everything with them and said this was the smoothest process he had ever had because he had purchased an annuity from someone else, and they just sent him the paperwork. He had to figure out the paperwork. That doesn't happen with us. Every carrier has different paperwork forms, and every carrier has different questions that we have to ask that they require them. But we do all of that for you. We take all of that pressure off of you to figure out the forms. We know the forms. We're just going to ask you the questions. We're going to send you the paperwork for your review. Once you review it for the accuracy of what you told us to put on the application, you will sign and date it, and then the process starts.

I wanted you to put together the best practices, the best way for people to purchase an annuity on their terms, and their timeframe to make them feel comfortable without us ever meeting as a client and agent.

If it's IRA, Roth IRA, non-IRA, it doesn't matter. We're going to coordinate everything. If it's IRA, we're going to make sure that the money where it's currently located with your IRA will transfer to the annuity company with an IRA established in your name. It's going to be a non-taxable event. If it's coming from an annuity in a non-IRA, we will ensure that it’s a 1035 IRS-approved 1035 transfer. Once again, non-taxable event. We will coordinate if you’re just writing a check out of a checking account or a money market account. We will have UPS pick it up, and it will be prepaid. We're going to take care of it from start to finish.

Now, during the process, depending on whether it's coming from an IRA, Roth IRA, or non-IRA, we will keep you informed on how the process works. We're going to send you emails. We're going to keep you updated on where it is in the process. When the policy is issued, the carriers typically send it to me. Some send it directly to you, depending on the state, but most come directly to me, and then I review it for accuracy. When I deem it accurate, and I get with my team, and we go through the details of the policy and the contractual guarantees that are supposed to be there for you and that we agreed upon, I'll overnight it to you. You get the policy for your records, et cetera. That's how smooth it is.

Once again, I give all props to my CEO and Director of Operations for putting these best practices together. She's been doing this in the annuity business for decades. I just told her when we started this crazy experiment of Stan The Annuity Man I said, "I want you to put together the best practices, the best way for people to purchase an annuity on their terms and their timeframe to make them feel comfortable without us ever meeting as a client and agent." She's done that, and the team that she's built, bar none, is the best. There's no high pressure, and we respect everything that you say. Everything that you say is confidential. It's the most professional application process you're ever going through.

Then the great news about the application process with the annuity industry ... I think one of the key points about the annuity industry that they should pound the table on ... It's the only industry in the world, in the financial business that you can test drive the product you already have it. They call it the free look period in the annuity industry. What does that mean to you? That means that once you get the policy, you already have the policy; the policy's in force. You can get your money back without question. If things change or you don't want to own the annuity anymore, we'll respect that. We will facilitate that refund for you. That's pretty good. I love that about the annuity industry. I think that they should pound that to the table. You can test drive the car while owning it, giving it back.

Becoming a Client

Now, once you become a client, that's even better. We will never just pick up the phone and call you because I don't have the time to do that. You're dealing with me, Stan The Annuity Man. We do keep you updated. We have a podcast that comes out every week. We have videos that come out three to four times a week etc. Then, we typically send a weekly newsletter that's fantastic and informative. We're doing a lot. We're trying to educate you to make a good decision, an informed decision about annuities, whether they are a good fit for you. We’ll shop all carriers for the highest contractual guarantee for your situation if they are.

There's too much high pressure going on out there in the annuity world. The annuity industry has earned its bad reputation with some of the sales practices out there. Most annuity agents are good people, doing it the right way. But with every sales industry that has a sales portion of it, there are some bad eggs out there, and they're pushing people, and they shouldn't be pushed. Annuities are contracts. You own them for what they will do, not what they might do. But when you're thinking about buying an annuity and how to buy an annuity, you will like our process.

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.