How To Not Get Ripped Off When Buying An Annuity

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Hi there, Stan The Annuity Man, America's annuity agent, licensed in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

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Good topic today. I mean, obvious answer, but good topic.

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How do I not get ripped off when buying an annuity?

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"Stan, I'm hearing all this bad stuff about annuities,

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and you call yourself the Annuity Man. What kind of a maniac are you?"

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That's a good question. There's a good story behind that.

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Of course, Stan The Annuity Man, that rhymes, correct? Yeah, I'm kind of glad that

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my sister's name is Teemi. T-E-E-M-I. If I was Teemi, it would not work.

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I would not have a business. I would not be the number one guy here. It's just that simple.

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But there's a better story to that. I'm going to get to the rip-off part. Just hang. Please, just chill.

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Had a marketing idea because I am a little bit of a marketer. I said to my wife, "Wife,"

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because that's what, I mean, that's how I refer to her. "Wife,

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let's change our name officially to The Annuity Man. So you would be Christine The

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Annuity Man. I'm already Stan The Annuity Man. We could film it, the judge and everything."

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It didn't go well. It just, you know, I can sell a lot of things.

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That one I couldn't close. You know what I'm saying? She's like, "Nope, not going to happen."

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And I went, "Gosh, maybe it was the approach." Maybe.

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Listen, how do you not get ripped off when buying an annuity, or even thinking about annuities,

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or even looking at annuities, or even going to the internet and

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viewing things about annuities? And God help you if you go to the steak dinner for annuities.

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We're going to talk about that after this.

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So, first thing I would tell you about how not to get ripped off is put your IQ hat on.

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Don't walk into any presentation, or you looking at some video about a product. If you're

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looking at a video on YouTube about a specific product, you're getting ready to get ripped off.

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I've done, I think, 1,400 or 1,500 videos. Not one time

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have I talked about a specific company and/or product because annuities are commodities.

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You own them for what they will do, not what they might do.

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Which leads back to the ripped-off part. If you own them for what they will do,

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not what they might do, you won't get ripped off. Because insurance companies issue

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annuities. They issue contracts. If you buy the contractual guarantee, you won't get ripped off.

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Another thing: if it sounds too good to be true, it is every single time. If someone is promoting

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the bonus, an upfront bonus, or something that sounds too good to be true, it is. Okay?

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Now, the down and dirty and the nuts and bolts of the ripped-off-ness

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is fixed annuities are guaranteed at the state level. So, whatever state you're sitting in,

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that insurance department at the state level, department of financial regulations,

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however they want to define themselves, okay? They approve annuities for sale in their state.

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Annuity companies have to apply, have to be looked. They've got to lift their financial skirt,

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and the state has to look at them. And then you get me, and then I look at them,

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and I'm better than they are because I've been doing it longer than they have. Guarantee that.

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Also, too, I looked this up the other day from numerous sources, so chill.

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The average time an annuity agent spends in the business before they quit: five years.

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That doesn't mean people who've been in the business forever are good people.

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But if Johnny-come-youngly is coming up to you, I mean, I've got cowboy boots older than them.

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But it really comes down to owning an annuity for what it will do,

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not what it might do. The contractual guarantees of the policy and then doing your research.

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Who are you buying it from? Have they been doing it for a long time?

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Top agent out here, licensed in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

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How many carriers do they represent? Are they just a one-trick pony? Are they just trying to

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sell enough of X Company to go on the trip, or because it's the highest commission out there?

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If whoever you're looking at for the annuity is showing you one product,

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you're getting ready to get ripped off. You're getting ready to get

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buy a product that's not the best, that's not the highest contractual guarantee.

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I think "rip-off" is tough because rip-off means you lose your money.

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You're not going to lose your money, you just might be putting it in... You'd be better off

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digging a hole in the backyard based upon some of these pitches I've heard and seen.

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You buy them for the contractual guarantee.

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Annuities solve for four things: principal protection, income for life,

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legacy, and long-term care. The acronym is PILL.

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And you ask two questions to determine if you need an annuity or not:

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What do you want the money to contractually do?

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When do you want those contractual guarantees to start?

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It's that simple.

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That gets the rip-off out of the way.

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But if someone's leading with an upfront bonus, market upside with no downside,

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free long-term care. Rip-off. Doofus pitching it. Sociopath pitching it.

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The good news is that your money's at the life insurance company. And life insurance companies,

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they're not smarter than banks, they're just more regulated not

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to do stupid things. And your money is safe there.

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In addition to that, the state guarantee funds are in place

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and run and overseen by the state that you live in.

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Those are all good things.

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But I think the question, "How do I not get ripped off by an annuity?"

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"How do you not make a really big mistake buying an annuity?"

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I think that's a better way to phrase it.

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Because your money's going to be at the life insurance company.

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Okay?

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I guess I don't even go there mentally, but I guess if there's an agent out there that says,

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"Send the check to me, make it out to me, and then I'll make it out to the..."

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That's a rip-off. That's also a felony. But I don't even go there. You know, that's crazy.

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Alright?

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Or if they're selling a company that you can't find on the state ledger that's been approved by the state.

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See, if you go to my site at theannuityman.com and you run quotes or pull up the live MYGA feed,

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if you put in your state and get the quote, it's been approved in your state.

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We've already done that for you.

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You can do the back end of it and check, recheck, and

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triple-stamp the double-stamp if you want to, but that's the way it works.

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But really, instead of a rip-off, it should be a mistake.

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Do not make a mistake buying non-guarantees.

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Do not make a mistake buying promises and dreams and hopes and potential.

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Do not make a mistake buying what sounds too good to be true because

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it is every single time without exception in the annuity industry.

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Contractual guarantees only. Contractual guarantees only. Contractual guarantees only

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will prevent you from making a mistake because you're going to know what you're going to get.

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And if you answer the two questions:

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What do you want the money to contractually do?

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And when do you want those contractual guarantees to start?

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If you just stay there and just answer those questions and just make it that simple,

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you're not going to make a mistake, you're not going to feel like you're being ripped off.

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Here's the good news, though.

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Let's just say you went to the really expensive steak dinner seminar. It sounded too good to be

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true. You had a brain fart, and you went for it, and you signed the paperwork.

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You can free-look the policy. You can get out. We can help you get out of that policy.

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If you felt like you were pressured, if they said, "Go ahead and sign the paperwork. Go

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ahead and sign it, and then you can make a decision," don't ever do that.

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We can help you get out of that.

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And, you know, if you feel like you really were ripped off, you can file a complaint

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with the state and the carrier that issued the policy.

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It's going to be a long haul. You've got to fight.

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But if you felt like you were done wrong, you can do that as well.

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We're not going to help you with that because we're not lawyers, but you can do that.

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But I'm hoping this video will prevent you from falling for the

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dream pitch because you're going to own the contractual realities.

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Do me a favor.

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When you go to my site at theannuityman.com, you can run contractual guarantees.

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You can see the best contractual guarantees for your specific situation.

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You can download free owner's manuals. You can read about it.

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You can type into the YouTube channel the product that you're looking to research.

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I've done lots of videos on them. Okay?

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And the last thing you can do is email me personally, [email protected],

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and I will respond, and I will help. I still own the company. It's a big company.

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We are the biggest out here in the direct-to-consumer market.

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But I love it. I love it. I love making sure that you don't make a mistake.

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And if that means telling you that you don't need an annuity, that's fine too.

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Do me a favor. Above my head, I did a video on contractual

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guarantees only and the commoditization of annuities.

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So, annuities are commodities. We shop all carriers for the highest contractual number,

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and then we look at the ratings, and then we look at my recommendation.

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A+ or better for lifetime income.

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MYGAs, it's specific recommendations from me, and I'm batting a thousand.

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So, it's that simple.

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I'm going to end this video with an Elvis pose, and I'll see you next time.