Why People Still Hate Annuities

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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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the founder of CGO, Contractual Guarantees Only.

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Today's topic is one that you're loving. You wanted to click it because you still hate

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annuities. You despise annuities. Why do people still hate annuities? And if that's the case, Stan

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The Annuity Man, why did you change your last name to The Annuity Man if people still hate annuities?

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There's a reason. There's bunches of reasons. I'm going to go through those reasons, and then after

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this video, I hope you do the Scooby-Doo and you're like, Ruh!

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"Because I'm going to smack you in the face factually."

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Because a lot of you out there just go, "I hate annuities, man. I hate them."

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Get ready. Sit down. Grab the coffee. We're going to talk about it after this.

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So, in my previous life working on Wall Street, Morgan Stanley,

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Dean Witter, PaineWebber, UBS, I kind of understand how people hate annuities

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because annuities are put down in those environments, the securities environments,

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stock market growth types, this type of stuff. I get that.

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But when I was there, I started learning about them and the

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contractual nature and those guarantees that I really like.

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And that's the reason I left, because I believe in the contractual guarantees of annuities.

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Now, let's get to the reasons that people hate annuities.

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"I hate annuities, Stan. I don't care what you say."

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So, really, do you, Chester?

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Social Security, the best inflation annuity on the planet. Don't even start.

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"Well, that's not an annuity."

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Yes, it is. It's a payment for life. It's a single premium immediate annuity. That's one of the

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eight to ten types of annuities out here. But that's what that is.

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The government backs it up. It's a great annuity.

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"Well, okay, okay. I'll accept that. Okay. But I still hate the rest."

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Okay. So, do you hate your pension? If you're so fortunate to either work for the government or the

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military or a good labor union or a company, one of the 9% of companies that still offer

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pensions to their retired employees, a pension is an annuity payment. That's what it is.

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Still hate them? Do you?

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Okay, that's fine. You can still hate them. Let's keep going.

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Do you have an IRA? Yes, you probably do. A traditional IRA. When you turn a specific age, ages

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seem to keep changing, the IRS taps you on the shoulder,

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and you have to do what's called required minimum distributions.

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That means you have to take money out whether you need it or not because the IRS needs to tax you.

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Don't even argue with me on this. That is an annuity-type payment because you've got to

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do that payment. You've got to take money out until you stop breathing.

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That's the definition of a lifetime income stream. Now,

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it fluctuates based upon what's in your account, but that's another type of annuity.

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"Okay. Okay. Okay. I still hate them. I still hate them."

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Okay. Do you hate CDs?

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CDs, you give money to the bank, it protects the principal, you get an interest rate that's

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guaranteed for a specific period of time that you choose. So, you don't hate that, right?

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"No, I like a good CD right there, son. I like that."

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Okay. How about multi-year guarantee annuities?

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The annuity industry version of a CD. The only difference is, instead of the bank issuing it,

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it's the life insurance company issuing it. No moving parts, no annual fees,

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no market attachments, a guaranteed interest rate for a specific period of time that you choose.

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"Oh, okay, okay, okay. I know what you're saying, Stan. Okay. You're starting to prove it."

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But I'm going to go one step further.

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A lot of you out there go, "Well, I'd never buy an income annuity, one of those

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pay annuities, because when you die, the annuity company keeps the money."

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Stop talking. I'm losing IQ points. That's stupid.

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Okay. With annuities for lifetime income, there are four types: single premium

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immediate annuities, deferred income annuities, qualified longevity annuity contracts,

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and income riders. All of those can be structured so that 100% of any unused money,

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if your Learjet hits the mountain on day four, goes to your family.

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Goes to your family. Goes to your family! Not the evil annuity company.

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I'm amazed at the stupidity of some financial journalists and the stupidity of

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masters-of-the-universe money managers that say,

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"Don't buy an annuity because, you know, when you die, the annuity company keeps the money."

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They just forfeited whatever credibility they had because they said that.

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Why do people still hate annuities?

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This is my opinion: because the people that sell them are full of crap. The people that sell them

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push the truth. The people that sell them push hypotheticals and theoreticals and back-tested,

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unicorn-chasing-the-butterfly returns and upfront bonus nonsense, which is candy for the stupid.

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The real reason that people still hate annuities is the sales pitches that are out there.

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Now, you've got to say, "Wait a minute, Stan The Annuity Man, America's annuity agent,

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licensed in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Don't you sell annuities?"

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Yeah, more than anyone. Billions. But only if it's appropriate and suitable.

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We're not a hammer looking for a nail. Everybody at my

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headquarters in Las Vegas, they're licensed in all 50 states, but they're not on commission.

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Their incentive and bonus are based on your satisfaction.

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And your satisfaction might be, we ask you the two questions: What do you want the

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money to contractually do? And when do you want those contractual guarantees to start?

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Then we go through the PILL acronym for what an annuity is used for.

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P, stands for principal protection.

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I, stands for income for life.

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L, stands for legacy.

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The other L, stands for long-term care.

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We might say, "You know what? You don't need an annuity."

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That's a good outcome for us if that's the truth. And

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we tell the truth, so we don't have to remember anything.

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The real reason people hate annuities is the bad chicken-dinner seminars or

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expensive steak-dinner seminars where they bring you in and they talk about one product,

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and they talk about hypotheticals and theoreticals and upfront bonuses.

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If you're dumb enough, stupid enough, gullible enough to think that there's a philanthropist at

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an annuity company giving money away, then you get what you deserve if you bought that crap.

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The reason people still hate annuities is because

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commissions aren't the same with all annuities. Commissions are built into annuities.

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It's a net transaction to you. But the complex products have the highest commissions.

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If there were straight, low-level commissions on all annuity products,

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that would solve a lot of problems. Because most agents out there, unfortunately,

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they'll find out what the highest-commission product is, then they'll try to sell it to you.

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Don't believe me? It's true.

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Or they'll find out, "If I sell enough of this one product,

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I get to go on this incentive trip. I really want to go on that one."

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Then they'll sell it.

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Why do people still hate annuities? It's because of that.

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Do I blame the carriers? Not really. I mean, they could clean it up by getting rid of all

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incentive trips. They could, I guess, as an industry, lower commissions to one level rate.

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People talk about fiduciary. Fiduciary, meaning putting

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the client's best interest ahead of the agent or adviser.

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That's a no-brainer. That should be every person in the financial business,

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how they walk into the office every day. Do that voluntarily. You don't need a plaque on

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the wall to say, "Well, I'm a really good guy. I got certified by this group that says that

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I'm a really good guy or gal, and I'm going to put your best interest ahead of mine."

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You need a plaque for that?

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The reason people still hate annuities is because they don't trust the sales pitch.

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What we've done with that? There is no sales pitch. It's contractual guarantees only.

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What's the pitch?

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The rating of the company, A+ or better for lifetime income, and

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then the highest number. We quote all carriers. It's that simple.

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There's no brochure of this company. No. No. No. It's a commodity product.

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Not one annuity is better than the other. Not one company is

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better than the other. They have higher ratings,

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financial ratings, than others, but for lifetime income, it's A+ or better and the highest number.

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The reason people still hate annuities is because the people selling them make

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them difficult to understand, and they do that for a reason.

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Too many times I talk to people and say, "Okay, what do you own?"

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They'll say, "Well, Stan, I just want to let you know I've already bought some annuities."

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"What do you own?"

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They can't tell me.

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If you can't remember what you bought, then you were sold. You were sold a bill of goods.

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If you can't explain it to a nine-year-old, no offense

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to nine-year-olds, you shouldn't have bought it.

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Annuities are simple.

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The reason people still hate annuities is because the advisers and agents make them complex.

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They talk about back-testing it: "If you'd owned it 10 years ago..."

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and "Look at the potential..." and "There's a possibility..."

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Crapola. All kinds of bullshit with that. That's French for crap.

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You never look at that. You look at the contractual guarantees.

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Why do people still hate annuities? It's because of that.

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Why do people still hate annuities? It's because, in my opinion, the fixed annuity space

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takes only a 70 to pass the test at a state level to sell it. I think the bar needs to be higher.

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That's not going to solve everything, but it could be a start.

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The reason people still hate annuities is because they haven't been presented the correct way.

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And that correct way is contractual guarantees only.

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My clients don't hate annuities. I get emails every single week from people who go, "I used

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to hate annuities, but the contractual guarantees are what they are. I like those. Those are good."

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We're transferring the risk. That's exactly what you're doing.

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I encourage you to go to my site, theannuityman.com.

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You can run quotes to your heart's content. You can see a live feed of

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the best fixed-rate MYGAs in the country. You can download my six owner's manuals.

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You can watch videos. You can watch replays of my live events. All kinds of stuff.

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You can do that. You can email me at [email protected], and I will respond.

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But why do people still hate annuities?

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Because the sales pitch is bad. The delivery system for that sales pitch is bad.

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And annuities shouldn't be pitched at all.

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People say, I heard someone the other day say,

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"Well, no one wakes up in the morning and wants to buy an annuity."

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I don't agree with that. I mean, we sell annuities, okay? People come to our site

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to purchase an annuity. But there's no high pressure. There's no urgency to buy one.

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Hey, do me one last favor. Above my head, I did a

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video a while back, but I want you to take a look at it again on what sets

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Stan The Annuity Man and my team in place. We are completely different from everyone out there.

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I mean, we run it tight. We run it the correct way,

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and it's all pro-consumer. We listen. We use our ears and mouth in proportion two to one.

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So, go to that video. You'll learn a little bit about me, some stuff you might not want to hear,

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some stuff you probably should hear before you make a decision.

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There's no mulligans in retirement. You've got to do it right the first time.

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Alright? So that video will help.

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My name is Stan The Annuity Man. We'll see you next time.