Should I Buy A Variable Annuity 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 in Puerto Rico. The question

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of the day is a weird one,

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kind of. Should I buy a variable annuity

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for retirement?

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I'm the only one on the planet to really

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sincerely and factually answer that

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question, and I'll do that after this.

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[music]

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So, should I buy should you buy a

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variable annuity for retirement? Uh,

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full disclosure, um, I don't sell

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variable annuities. Um, I don't want to

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be get licensed to sell variable

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annuities. They they hold no value to me

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because I only look at at annuities for

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the contractual guarantees of the

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policy. You own an annuity for what it

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will do, not what it might do. Now I

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used to look at those when I was with

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Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Paneer UBS

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and variable annuities were put on the

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planet in 1954 by TIAA CF at the time.

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Now it's just TIAA great company but in

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essence a variable annuity

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is a bunch of mutual funds with an

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insurance wrapper. Bottom line, you can

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attach all kinds of writers to it, but

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the average fee, the last time I

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checked, for variable annuities,

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um, is 3% annually for the life of the

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policy.

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So, um, do they have their place in a

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nonIRRA environment for tax deferred

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growth? In the past, I thought so

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because there were some very, very good

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um, no load variable annuities, meaning

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agents couldn't sell them. They weren't

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charging you a fee. there's 100%

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liquidity and you still got the tax

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deferred growth in a nonirra setting.

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One of the reasons I don't sell them is

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that that's really not available anymore

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in a good form. There were some really

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good products back in the day that were

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lots of good choices with mutual funds.

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They call them for whatever reason they

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call them separate accounts with

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variable annuities, but I don't have

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that license because I don't do non-G

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guaranteed stuff and and variable

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annuities are non-G guarantees. My

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opinion, listen to me. My opinion, if

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you're going to buy mutual funds, go buy

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mutual funds. You don't need an

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insurance rapper charging you 3%

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annually for the right to do that. My

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opinion, the variable annuity side is

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kind of a dying side dying in the

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business. It's been replaced by the

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registered index linked annuity, which

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is a fancy version of an index annuity.

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And I don't sell that either because

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again, nonGaranteed.

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So the question is, should I buy a

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variable annuity for retirement? The

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better question is what are you trying

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to achieve in retirement? What is your

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goal in retirement? What's the what's

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the goal of the asset? The money. I ask

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that all the time. Two questions. What

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do you want the money to contractually

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do? When do you want those contractual

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guarantees to start? If you said, I

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really want really good market growth.

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Then don't buy an annuity. And that

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includes a variable annuity. My opinion.

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It also includes a RIA. My opinion. It

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also includes an index annuity. My

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opinion. But index annuities are fixed

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annuities. We sell those, but only when

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income writers are attached to them at

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the time of this taping. That's how we

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use them. Income writers are the

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contractual guarantees for lifetime

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income that rides on top of the policy.

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I think the bigger question it's it's

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not the question of should you buy a

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variable annuity. And by the way, don't

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ask anybody that question except me

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because they'll be like, "Yep, I think

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you should. I got one right over here."

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Uh or no, you shouldn't buy that, but

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you can buy this one. I mean, don't ask

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that.

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Don't ask that. You're you're buying

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contractual guarantees. You're buying

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what it what the policy will do, not

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what it might do. So, so understand what

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you're trying to solve for.

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Don't go into don't don't ask that

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question about any product. You know,

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should I buy an index annuity for

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retirement? Should I buy a ria for

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retirement? Should I buy a variable

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annuity for retirement? Should I buy a

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MA for retirement? Should I buy a a SPIA

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for retirement? Don't ask any of that.

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That's crap.

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What do you want the money to do? What's

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the goal of the asset? Don't just say

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reasonable rate of return. If you say

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that, you're dumb. Okay? You're not

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thinking. You're smarter than that.

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What's reasonable rate of return? I

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talked to a guy the other day. He

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thought reasonable rate of return was 10

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to 13% annually.

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Hey, that's a reflection of at the time

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of this taping being in a raging bull

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market. That makes no sense. It's also a

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reflection of not getting it, not

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understanding it. If if hedge funds and

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private equity and money managers got 10

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to 13% every year, year after year after

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year after year, and up, down, and up

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markets and down markets, there would be

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statues built for these people.

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Don't don't confuse a bull market with

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genius. Yes, you can quote me on that.

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Any monkey idiot can throw a dart at it

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right now. Come on. It's not should I

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buy a variable annuity for retirement is

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should I buy an annuity for retirement.

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Do you really need an annuity for

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retirement? Annuities solve for four

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things. The acronym is pill. P stands

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for principal protection. I stands for

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income for life. L stands for legacy.

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The other L stands for long-term care.

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There's no G for growth. There's no M

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for market. There's no V for variable.

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There's no R for registered. There's no

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there's no E for equity.

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It solves for those things. They're

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trans. You're transferring the risk to

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for the company to protect the

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principal. You're transferring the risk

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for the life insurance company that

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issues the annuity to provide lifetime

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income that you can never outlive. It's

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going to pay as long as you're

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breathing. You're transferring the risk

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for legacy. If you can't qualify for

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life insurance, you're transferring the

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risk for long-term care that can be

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issued whether you're healthy or not

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through annuities.

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You're transferring the risk. Should I

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buy an annuity in retirement? Forget

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variable. Should I buy an annuity in

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retirement? Do you want to transfer

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risk? Yes or no. If you don't, that's

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fine. Shoulder the risk and go play. Go

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play in the markets and go do your

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thing.

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But if you want to transfer the risk, if

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you want to get those guarantees, if you

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want to build that income floor with

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lifetime income products in conjunction

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with the ones you already own, social

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security, hello. Best inflation annuity

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on the planet pension. Hello. That's an

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annuity as well. Well, if you're so

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fortunate to have one, that's the

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question. Don't be product specific. Be

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specific about your goal. If you ask a

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product specific question, some

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sociopath agent and advisor is going to

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sell it to you. They're not going to

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listen. They're just going to say,

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"Well, he wants a variable annuity. I

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guess we got to sell him one." Not even

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thinking if it's suitable or not or if

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it's appropriate or from a fiduciary

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standpoint, thiduciary.

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Does it make sense? This is important.

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Okay. The reason I do these videos is to

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thwart th h a rt. Look it up. Thwart all

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of the crap

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pitches that are out there. All of the

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crap misinformation and non-g guaranteed

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proposals that are going on out there.

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My question to you is if you're

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considering a variable annuity,

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are you okay with starting the year out

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every single year on the mutual fund

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account at minus3 or minus two, whatever

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the fees are? Are you? So you get 9%

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return. That means you net six. Really?

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You happy with that?

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Why wouldn't you just go buy no load

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mutual funds somewhere and

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don't have any restrictions?

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These type of packaged products sound

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really, really good. And when when

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variable annuities came out in 54, um I

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wasn't around then. I was minus 10

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years, minus 8 years old. Um did you get

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that Dr. V? Minus 8. Okay. I was minus 8

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years old. I was a twinkle in my parents

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thought maybe that's that's disgusting.

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What am I even talking about? But the

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point is it kind of made sense because

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it was a it was a tax deferred growth in

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a non-qualified account and the fees it

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wasn't so fee laden back then. Okay.

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So the question isn't should I buy a

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variable annuity for retirement. The

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question is should you buy an annuity

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for retirement and the the follow-up is

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what's your goal. Do me a favor. Go to

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my site theanuityman.com. You can run

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quotes. You can download our owners

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manuals. You can get to me

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stantheanuityman.com.

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If you choose a contractual guaranteed

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transfer risk strategy, my team can take

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you across the finish line start to

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finish with all the paperwork. We are

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the top people out here doing that. And

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everybody in my office headquarters in

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Las Vegas is licensed in all 50 states

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states because they have to be to

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legally talk to you. Anyone else that's

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not licensed in all 50 states that's

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talking to you, it's illegal. Okay,

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we're going to clean that up, too. So,

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you know, that's how we do it. One last

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thing above my head, I did a video on

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why people hate

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annuities, why people still hate

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annuities. Part of the reason is

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most agents advisors are are hammers

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looking for nails. They're not

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listening. They're not using ears and

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mouth and proportion. We do. My team is

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incentivized by you being happy, by the

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paperwork getting done quickly. It's not

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commission. Okay, they're not on

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commission. I still run the company. You

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can get to me oneonone if you want to,

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but watch that video. You get a kick

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because I do have some solutions if the

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industry would listen to me. Of course,

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they're not going to, but they will

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eventually because I'm gonna force them

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to. All right, my name is Stan the

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Annuity Man.

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See you next time.