Annuities have evolved to serve various purposes.  They can provide benefits for LTC, Nursing Home, Unemployment, Lifetime Income, etc.  Today I want to focus on Wealth Transfer.  There are a handful of hybrids out there will provide a guarantee to your heirs.  It works exactly like your lifetime income riders, and the death benefit will [...]

We’ve all heard the news that Hostess Brands Inc. is nearing a deal to sell its Twinkie brand and other cakes, but who saw Apollo Global Management LLC being the front-runners on this deal?  The Wall Street Journal ran an article yesterday by Mike Spector and Rachel Feintzeig taking about this deal.  “Apollo, the giant [...]

What exactly is “Financial Peace of Mind” mean to you?  For the “Greatest Generation” – the baby boomers parents, financial peace of mind usually mean to retire comfortably at age 65 and have enough money to last as long as they did with some excess to pass on to the beneficiaries to help continue their [...]

Why do we buy insurance?  We buy it for our cars, our homes, our jobs, our spouses, pets, and ourselves.  Why buy for the “just in case stuff happens” moments.  CAr accident, job lost, disabilities, accidental death, and medical issues.  We pay monthly premiums without giving it a 2nd thought for the just in case [...]

This is as good as time as any to fix Social Security financing problems.  In fact, Congress’s decision to allow the 2-percentage-point reduction in the payroll tax to expire as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations clears the path for restoring full solvency.  Of course, Social Security has not contributed to the deficit in the [...]

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life), a leading provider of fixed index annuities (FIAs), today announced the launch of the Allianz 222SM Annuity, a new FIA available exclusively to field marketing organizations, broker/dealers, and agents associated with the Allianz PreferredSM platform. Available today in 44 states, the newest FIA to the Allianz Life lineup [...]

If you’re associated at all in the insurance world, then you’ve most likely heard the name Apollo Global Management LLC (APO) a private-equity firm and asset manager Guggenheim Partners LLC.  These two firm have made headlines this past year, purchasing some huge carriers; Aviva, Sun Life Financial, and EquiTrust to name a few.  The recent [...]