Lump Sum or Pension Annuity? How to Decide for Retirement

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Hi there, Stan the Annuity Man,

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America's annuity agent, licensed in all

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50 states. I'm glad you joined me. Lump

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sum versus annuity pension. Which one's

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better? I get a call the other day and

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the the the guy is retiring from a very

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large company and he's saying, "Hey,

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Stan, the annuity man, they're offering

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me this lump sum, they the company, and

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they're also offering me this pension

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payment, which is an annuity. They're

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offering me a lifetime income stream.

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Which one do I take? Which one is

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better?" Remember, there's there's no

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good answers, just bad sales pitches.

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And I'm never going to sales pitch you.

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So, what we have to do is dig into that

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question and so I can help you make that

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decision and make an informed decision

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so you're going to get the highest

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contractual guarantee. But I can't do

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anything that detailed until I hear

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music.

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Okay, so getting back to the phone call,

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the guy says they're giving me this lump

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sum and then they're having me choose

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between that and a lifetime income

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stream. Which one's better, Stan the

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annuity man? Which one should I take?

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Well, it really comes down to your

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specific situation. So, you have to ask

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yourself the two questions. What do I

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want the money to contractually do? And

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when do I want those contractual

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guarantees to start? Now, if you do not

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need the income to start immediately,

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then I would tell you you have a couple

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choices. You can just, hey, you know,

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roll that money into an IRA or whatever

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and manage that money yourself or have

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someone manage that money in non-anuity

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assets. Or if you want to protect the

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principal, then you can transfer it to

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an annuity to protect the principle.

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There's two types that do that.

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multi-year guarantee annuities, which is

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the annuity industry version of a CD,

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and fixed index annuities, which are

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also CD type products. Shocker, they're

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not market products. So, you could do

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that and protect the principal. But if

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you say, you know what, I I think me and

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the spouse, we need a lifetime income

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stream to combine with social security,

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which shocker alert, that's an annuity.

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Everybody owns an annuity that has a

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social security number. So, let's just

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say you you land on Okay, Stan the

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Annuity Man, America's annuity agent.

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This is we need a pension. What I'm

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going to what I'm going to ask you to do

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is tell me the exact number, monthly

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guaranteed amount that they your

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company, your former employer is

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offering you. And so from that, I'll

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take that number and the same exact

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structure that that you're thinking and

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this is very very very very important.

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A lot of the companies don't offer all

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the structuring choices as as on the

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street would. And in essence, what

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you're saying is a single premium

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immediate annuity is what you're buying.

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And a single premium immediate annuity

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is a lifetime income pension that can

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start as soon as 30 days out to a year.

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So what the company is offering you is a

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single premium immediate annuity. And

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what you're saying to me is, Stan,

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please go shop all single premium

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immediate annuities, same quote

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parameters, so I can do an applesto

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apples comparison. That's my job. Now,

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spoiler alert, 85% or more, and this

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isn't some, you know, documented, you

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know, Yale, Harvard study, this is Stan

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the Annuity Man, which is probably

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better because I I'm, you know, I'm on

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the street. I'm I'm in there with you.

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I'm in the I'm in the annuity weeds.

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Most of the time that I do this, 85% of

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the time that I found, the company is

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offering a higher contractual guarantee

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than I can go shop for on the outside

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with a SPIA. You say, "Wait, whoa, whoa,

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whoa, whoa. What? Why is that Stan the

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annuity man? Think logically. If your

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company is offering you a pension, okay,

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what they really and they want to be

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competitive, they're going to go to my

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site at theanuityman.com and run the

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quotes on stand the annuity man on the

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site. Why? Because I have the best

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calculators on the planet and they're

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going to find out what the guarantees

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are and they're probably going to have

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them a little bit higher. Why? To keep

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your money. so that they can keep your

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money and dole it back to you over your

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life expectancy or life expecties

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instead of having to come up with the

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lump sum. So that's really my job. So

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when this gentleman is like okay I want

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you we want the lifetime income stream

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and I said what how do you want to

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structure it? And this is key. Do you

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want it joint life only? Do you want it

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joint life with a cash refund or joint

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life with installment refund ex or or a

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period certain? What do you want? And

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again I've written a book on immediate

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annuities. I'll send it to you for free

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at theu go to theanuityman.com and sign

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up for it. But that's the conversation

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we're going to have. Once you tell me

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the structuring choice that you've

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chosen uh to compare from your employer,

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then I'm going to run that same exact

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immediate annuity quote under the same

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exact parameters so we can see who has

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the highest contractual guarantee. And

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as as you know from me and my studio is

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called the will do not might do studios

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as you see in the background. It's

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because you own an annuity for what it

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will do, not what it might do. And the

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will do is the contractual guarantees.

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And you're going to choose the

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contractual guarantee that's the

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highest. Okay? Even if it's not me.

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Oh my god. Annuity god, Sten, don't say

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that, Sten. You're you're giving up

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sales. No, I'm telling the truth. I'm

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telling the truth. My grandfather always

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said grandfather said to me in Stanley,

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North Carolina, which is where I grew

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up, he said, "If if you tell the truth,

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you don't have to remember anything." So

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if I'm providing a lifetime income quote

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based upon the same parameters as your

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company is offering, okay, and the comp

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company is a good company, solid

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company, and they have a higher

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contractual guarantee, I'm going to say

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go with that. But if I have the highest

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contractual guarantee, I'm going to say

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you might want to consider taking the

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lump sum and transferring it to this

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single premium immediate annuity company

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because we contractually beat the

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contractual offer from your employer.

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One big factor in your decision is the

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stability and strength of not only the

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annuity companies that I'm quoting, but

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your employer. Can they back up the

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claim? Can they are they financial

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financially stable enough to provide

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that lifetime income stream? I mean, you

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need to think about that. Now, we can

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help you with the annuity side, but uh

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on on your side where the employer,

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you're going to probably have to do your

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own research on that and make sure that

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they can back up the claim if they have

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the highest contractual guarantee. Okay?

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Because in essence, you're transferring

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the risk to your company if they're the

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highest contractual guarantee to pay you

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for the rest of your life. If you choose

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an annuity, if the annuity quote is

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higher, you're transferring the risk to

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the annuity company to pay you for the

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rest of your life regardless of how long

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you live. As long as you are

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breathing. Now, what I would encourage

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you to do is when you get this offer,

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you're going to get a single life offer,

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meaning just on your life or joint life

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offer with your spouse or partner. Now,

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the single life offer will always be

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higher from a guarantee standpoint from

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a monthly income standpoint. Why?

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Because they're they're guaranteeing

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that monthly income on just one life.

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But I would encourage you to do this.

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All you married people out there or or

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long-term partners that uh love each

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other, put put your spouse or partner on

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the contractual guarantee for lifetime

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income because that's important. Um when

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you pass away, and I know you're

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invincible. I know you're saying, "Hey,

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I'm invincible. There's nothing going to

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happen." Trust me, it's going to happen.

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But when something happens to you, if

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you set it up joint with your spouse or

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partner, then that income is going to

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continue uninterrupted and unchanged for

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the rest of their life as long as

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they're breathing. Also too, you can

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structure it so that 100% of any unused

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money will go to your listed

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beneficiaries and the evil annuity

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company or or or your company will not

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keep a penny under any circumstance. All

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right? even though they're on the hook

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to pay for as long as you're breathing.

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This is a big decision. I will tell you

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this. I get these calls all the time

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because a lot of people are retiring.

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There's over 10,000 baby boomers hitting

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age 65. They're either thinking about

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retiring, retiring, or going to retire

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pretty soon. You have to make the right

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decision. If you're a golfer, I always

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say there's no mulligans in retirement.

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There's no doovers. Once you make this

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choice with your employer, it's done.

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You can't go back to I've changed my

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mind. No, no, no, no, no. There's no

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change in your mind. That's the reason

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that that we need to go, we need to talk

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one-on-one and we can walk you through

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this decision so that you can make an

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informed decision. There's no urgency

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ever to buy an annuity. There's no

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urgency ever to make the decision on

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your company plan unless they give you a

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time horizon on when you need to do it.

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But we need to start that process of

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quoting all carriers, looking at the

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contractual guarantees, making sure that

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what you're doing and what you're

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getting ready to decide to do for you

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and your family and your spouse or

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partner is exactly what you want to

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happen. Because with annuities, they're

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customizable. You know, people say, "I

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hate all annuities." You can't. There

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there's a you can't say that unless

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you're stupid because there's a ton of

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them out there. There's a ton there's at

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least seven that I can count different

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types and then you already own one

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because social security. But what I want

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you to understand is you've worked hard

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for this company. You've laid it on the

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line. You sacrificed. You've given them

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all you have. And now you're at the

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finish line. They're saying lump sum or

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pension. Let's go very slow. Let's go

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very slow together and walk through that

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process. And one thing that you will it

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the reason you're watching this video

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is, you know, I'm going to tell you the

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truth. If you get me on the phone, I'm

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going to tell you the truth. You know,

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if the best deal is for you to stay at

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the company, I'm going to tell you that.

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Period. two words, monthly payment. I'll

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say it again, monthly payment. When you

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retire, that's really the game. What's

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my monthly payment? What's my monthly

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payment on social security? What's my

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monthly payment on my annuity? What's my

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monthly payment on my pension that my

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company's offering? Monthly payment.

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Monthly payment equates into income

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floor. The guaranteed amount that's

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hitting your bank account every single

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month. I encourage you to schedule a

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call with me. Let's walk you through the

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one of the biggest decisions of your

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life so you can make a good one on your

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terms and on your t time frame. Hey,

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thanks for joining me on this Stand the

10:11
Annuity Man video and I will see you

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next time.

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[Applause]