Secondary Market Annuities have been gaining in popularity in recent years as interest rates continue to trend downward.  But What are SMA’s?  According to www.SecondaryMarketAnnuity.net:   Secondary Market Annuities are simply existing in-force Structured Settlement Annuities that people seek to sell for cash today. You may have heard radio and TV jingles for this business. [...]

Is an annuity a good idea for me? First of all, there are many different type of annuities and a lot of misconceptions about them. I personally think annuities can be a good fit for a portion of assets that you may be looking to protect, but choosing the right one or combination of annuities [...]

One of the number one reasons individuals do not purchase income annuities is the concern of liquidity.  A recent study entitled “Features in Income Annuities: Immediate and Deferred Income Annuity Designs”, hopefully puts that concern to rest.  The survey conducted by LIMRA and CANNEX, found that a lot of the income annuities being sold today [...]

The IRS allows for penalty-free withdrawals from a Non-Qualified Annuity. The rule requires that, in order for the annuity owner to take penalty-free early withdrawals, he or she must take at least five “substantially equal periodic payments” or equal periodic payments until age 59 1/2 whichever comes later.  The amount depends on the owner’s life [...]

With the current low CD rates and the extremely low rates on other savings tools, many retirees could find themselves running out of money before they run out of time.  The fear of running out of money in retirement is the number 1 fear of most retirees.     Recent studies have found that the [...]

They say that bankruptcy is when you go from a credit rating to a credit rotting. So it is with the city of Stockton in California which is headed to bankruptcy court. I recently helped an advisor in Santa Monica with a portfolio of Municipal Bonds that included several California General Obligation Bonds. She had [...]

Afraid you will run out of money in your 90’s?   Don’t be, take action now to ensure you will have an income stream you cannot outlive.  By sitting down with a retirement income specialist who can evaluate your retirement needs you will be able to develop a strategy to replace your fears.  Utilizing immediate [...]

  Insurance giant Pacific Life announced yesterday that they will be teaming up with Aplifi to be able to provide annuity applications and contracts electronically.  Pacific Life has been a longtime supporter of electronic annuity applications, and now with Aplifi they will be able to provide this for advisors and clients.  Having the ability to [...]

LIMRA released its top 20 list of annuities for 2012 yesterday, and surprisingly it was the lowest level since 2005.  The total sales of annuity products for 2012 were $219 billion.  LIMRA breaks this down with variable annuity sales hitting $147 billion, and fixed annuity sales weighing in at $73 billion; $33.9 billion of the [...]

“E-Apps” are being implemented into everyday routine for the Financial Advisor.  Insurance carriers are eliminating the need to print applications prior to client meeting by providing mobile electronic applications process to quickly enter and submit applications online.  Applications will also allow provide tablet-based e-signature capabilities.  Carriers can now expect an increase of applications in good [...]