What Is A Bonus Annuity?

August 28, 2026
7 min
What Is A Bonus Annuity?
The Annuity Man®
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Keep hearing about annuities with bonuses? In this video, I explain what a bonus annuity is, why upfront bonuses can be misleading, and why consumers should focus on contractual guarantees rather than flashy marketing promises. I break down how bonus annuities really work, why the size of a bonus may not tell you anything about the value of the contract, and the key questions to consider before getting an annuity.

▶️ WATCH NEXT: https://youtu.be/Dm93pRU-XaA

Watch and Enjoy!
Stan The Annuity Man

Key Moments in this Episode
========================
00:00 Introduction to the Video
00:46 Truth About Bonus Annuities
03:14 Key Considerations Before Buying An Annuity
03:39 What Buying A Bonus Annuity Is Like
04:14 Sales & Marketing Organizations in the Annuity Industry
05:01 What Is A Bonus Annuity?
05:41 The Purpose of Annuities
07:09 Next Steps and Helpful Resources

What To Watch Next:
========================
https://youtu.be/Dm93pRU-XaA

Resources
========================
📞 Book a Free 30-minute Call with The Annuity Man Team:
https://www.stantheannuityman.com/book-a-call

📘 Get Your FREE Annuity Owner’s Manual:
https://www.stantheannuityman.com/get-smarter/annuity-books

🔢 Use Our FREE Annuity Calculators + Live Rate Feeds:
https://www.stantheannuityman.com/annuity-calculators

🎧 Listen to the Fun With Annuities Podcast:
https://youtube.com/@funwithannuities

Learn More About Stan The Annuity Man
========================
Stan The Annuity Man® is known as “America’s Annuity Agent®” and the top independent annuity agent in the United States, licensed in all 50 states. He is a firm believer that annuities should NOT be purchased for market growth and is focused on educating the consumer so that they can make an informed decision on their terms and on their time frame. Stan has published 7 books on the annuity topic and prides himself on being a consumer advocate for all things annuity.

========================
Video by Nate Woodbury
BeTheHeroStudios.com
http://YouTube.com/c/NateWoodbury

#StanTheAnnuityMan
#Annuity
#TheAnnuityMan
#Retirement

  • 0:00 Introduction to the Video
  • 0:46 Truth About Bonus Annuities
  • 3:14 Key Considerations Before Buying An Annuity
  • 3:39 What Buying A Bonus Annuity Is Like
  • 4:14 Sales & Marketing Organizations in the Annuity Industry
  • 5:01 What Is A Bonus Annuity?
  • 5:41 The Purpose of Annuities
  • 7:09 Next Steps and Helpful Resources

0:00
Hi there, Stan the Annuity Man,

0:01
America's annuity agent, licensed in all

0:03
50 states in Puerto Rico. Today's topic

0:06
is one that might make me

0:10
intense. How about that? The topic is

0:13
what is a bonus annuity? I mean, it's

0:16
like someone sticking a knife in the

0:17
side of me. Hey, Stan, that's what this

0:21
is. What's a bonus annuity? A bonus

0:23
annuity is what's wrong with this

0:25
industry. That's I mean and we're going

0:27
to talk about that and I'm going to go

0:29
off as only I do factually and you're

0:32
going to understand why

0:36
there's no philanthropist at annuity

0:37
companies after this.

0:46
So what is a bonus annuity? I wish there

0:49
wasn't a bonus annuity. Bonus annuities

0:52
are

0:55
typically indexed annuities where

0:57
there's an upfront bonus. Slow down.

0:59
Don't get excited. An upfront bonus

1:02
attached when you buy it. They attach

1:04
the bonus to typically the income base.

1:07
And you go, "Well, Sam, that sounds

1:08
great. That sounds like it's free

1:10
money." There's no philanthropist at

1:12
annuity companies giving away free

1:14
money. There's a hundred pennies in the

1:16
dollar.

1:18
There's not 125 if there's a 25% bonus.

1:21
There's not 150 pennies that there's a

1:23
50% bonus. And you're saying, "See, is

1:26
there a 50% bonus?" Yeah, there was.

1:27
There was one recently that was 50.

1:30
I know what you're saying. That sounds

1:32
good. No, it doesn't.

1:34
It means nothing. Bonus annuities are

1:38
part of the overall contractual

1:40
guarantee. The bonus with the annuity is

1:43
part of the overall contractual

1:44
guarantee.

1:46
For the last 10 years, I've come up with

1:48
a saying for bonus annuities. It's candy

1:50
for the stupid. If you think

1:55
that someone's giving away free money,

1:57
you're an idiot. You're a [ __ ]

2:01
You're who the salesperson that's trying

2:03
to pitch looking to looking for. I had a

2:08
I had a person high up in the industry

2:10
in my office recently. Nice person. Nice

2:13
person.

2:15
long story. And he he was proud. He

2:16
goes, "You know, Stam, uh, we just

2:18
introduced our first bonus annuity." I

2:20
said, "Who gives a shit?"

2:23
And he's like I'm like, "Who cares?

2:27
Who cares? Bonus bonus bonus annuity.

2:30
What? Why not a unicorn annuity? Let's

2:33
give away unicorns."

2:34
Index annuities were put on the planet

2:36
in 1995 to compete with CD returns.

2:39
Since that time, they've been the most

2:41
bastardized, overpromoted, overpromised,

2:44
overhyped, now with a bonus product

2:47
ever. What is a bonus annuity? It's

2:50
something to be wary of. What is a bonus

2:52
annuity? If something leads with that,

2:54
get up and walk out. What is a bonus

2:56
annuity? If that's what the guy's

2:58
pitching or gal's pitching and they're

3:00
spending a lot of time on the bonus, get

3:01
up and leave or hang the phone up. You

3:04
own an annuity for what it will do, not

3:06
what it might do. The will do are the

3:07
contractual guarantees. The bonus is

3:10
nothing special. It's part of the

3:12
overall contractual guarantee. So, when

3:14
we ask you two questions, what do you

3:16
want the money to contractually do? And

3:17
when do you want those contractual

3:18
guarantees to start? And you might say,

3:21
I need lifetime income to start seven

3:22
years from now. We're going to quote an

3:24
income writer that's attached to an

3:26
index annuity. And it might have a

3:28
bonus. Who gives a crap?

3:30
We're going to quote for the highest

3:32
contractual guarantee of of that out

3:35
there, A+ or better with or without a

3:37
bonus. Who cares? Let me give you a

3:39
correlation. What is a bonus annuity?

3:42
It's like you going to the car

3:43
dealership and saying, "You know what?

3:45
[snorts] I don't care about the

3:47
transmission. I don't care about the

3:48
engine. I don't care about any of that.

3:51
Show me the car stereo.

3:54
I'm going to buy this. I'm going to buy

3:55
this car for the car stereo system."

3:58
That's that's that's the correlation of

4:01
buying an annuity for the bonus. I had a

4:03
guy call me the other day, Stan. This

4:04
guy's offering a 25% bonus. You got to

4:07
hire one. I said, "No, but you're losing

4:09
your mind. Turn on your brain, Ernie.

4:12
You're getting ready to get taken."

4:14
There are these things in the annuity

4:15
industry called sales and marketing

4:17
organizations where,

4:19
not us most of the time because we we

4:22
have direct contracts with a lot of the

4:24
carriers. But for the smaller agent,

4:27
they have to run through the SMO group

4:30
and for contracting things like that.

4:32
And I have a good friend there and I

4:33
say, "Well, what's what's trending?" And

4:35
he goes, "Here's what they agents will

4:37
call up and say, what's got the biggest

4:38
bonus and the biggest commission?"

4:41
Both of those have nothing to do with

4:42
the client. I'm like, "That's what they

4:45
ask?" Yep. They want the biggest bonus

4:47
and the biggest commission because they

4:48
know the bonus is going to attract the

4:51
people to buy the the the product even

4:53
though the bonus,

4:56
it's not a big deal. I'm like, "That's

4:58
what's wrong with our industry." What is

5:00
a bonus annuity? It's what's wrong with

5:02
our industry. What is a bonus annuity?

5:04
It's something that the annuity should

5:05
get rid of. What is a bonus annuity?

5:08
It's something that shouldn't be here.

5:09
What is a bonus annuity? It's something

5:11
that shouldn't be overly promoted. What

5:13
is a bonus annuity? It's o it's part of

5:14
the overall contractual guarantee that

5:17
we quote. And if you go to our site and

5:18
quote income writers, you're going to

5:20
quote with and without bonus. You won't

5:22
even know. You're just looking for the

5:23
highest contractual guaranteed number.

5:26
What is a bonus annuity? It's a problem.

5:29
What is a bonus annuity? I'll tell you

5:30
what it's not. It's not free money.

5:33
What is a bonus annuity? It's something

5:35
you shouldn't be focused on. What is a

5:37
bonus annuity? Who cares?

5:40
Annuities solve for four things. The

5:42
acronym is pill. P stands for principal

5:45
protection. I stands for income for

5:46
life. L stands for legacy. The other L

5:49
stands for long-term care. If you don't

5:50
need to solve contractually for one of

5:52
those, you do not need an annuity.

5:54
There's no G for growth. There's no M

5:56
for market. There's no S for stock.

5:58
There's no B for Bitcoin pill. And then

6:01
you shop all carriers for the highest

6:03
contractual guarantee. There's no B for

6:06
bonus.

6:07
What is a bonus annuity?

6:11
It's something the annuity industry

6:12
should clean up. What is a bonus

6:15
annuity? It's something the annuity

6:17
industry should be ashamed of how it's

6:19
being promoted and sold. What is a bonus

6:22
annuity? Irrelevant. That's what it is.

6:26
In the world that I live in, which is

6:28
the world that the annuity industry

6:30
should live in, which is you own an

6:31
annuity for what it will do, not what it

6:33
might do. You quote all carriers, bonus

6:34
or no bonus. Who cares? If it has the

6:37
high if if the bonus equates into the

6:39
highest contractual guarantee number

6:41
after shopping all carriers, great.

6:44
But who cares?

6:46
And I think that's it at the end of the

6:48
day. What is a bonus annuity? Who cares?

6:53
Who cares? The passion of this and the

6:56
truthful answer of this video is why you

6:58
should consider us to be your agent or

7:00
agent of record if you've already bought

7:01
one of these crap things.

7:04
We'll help you make lemonade out of it.

7:08
Would love to talk with you. Schedule a

7:10
call, run quotes 247 on my site,

7:12
download the books, and do me one last

7:14
favor. I did a video on um how annuities

7:17
can help families, help protect

7:19
families, provide for families to

7:20
contractual guarantees for families. I

7:22
gave some details on some things I'm

7:23
doing for my family, my two daughters

7:25
and my wife. Um, preparing now for when

7:28
I pass away. And you should too. You

7:29
should you should view that video

7:31
because I think from a legacy

7:32
standpoint, it might be something you

7:34
might be interested in. And if so, then

7:35
we need to talk. Okay. My name is Stan

7:38
the Annuity Man. See you next time.

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