Do you remember the Eveready Battery ad with Robert Conrad? Where he pitches the product and the says “I dare ya”. Well, this is my Robert Conrad – Eveready Battery moment …
Take a look at any your book of business, take a good honest look at all of your clients. I dare you to not be able to find one client who does not own an annuity. I dare ya.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, Facts & Statistics page, citing a LIMRA survey conducted in first quarter of 2018, almost $3 trillion in annuities are owned in America. And, in 2017, more than $3 billion of deferred annuities were sold.
Despite the negativity about annuities that you may hear from certain people who share my last name (and are of no relation) … annuities are popular financial planning tools and not all annuities are bad.
I am not here to defend annuities nor am I here to condemn them. I am here to state the following: annuities can be a very useful tools in a portfolio when used properly; like everything else, they can also be a less than ideal tool. In short, the best annuity is one that aligns with the long-term goals of an accumulation and income strategy.
Not every annuity is properly placed. In fact, I am willing to bet that most retirement and income plans are not properly designed. Simply, a majority of these plans (through omission or intentionally) neglect the real risk that an extended healthcare event poses – but that is another conversation.
At OneAmerica, our Care Solutions portfolio includes a strategy to turn tax-deferred accumulation inside of deferred annuities into tax-free distributions when used to long term care. While we are not alone in the space, we have been offering annuity-based solutions for well over a decade and boast a deep product portfolio that includes:
Annuity Care® ,
Annuity Care® II,
Indexed Annuity Care®
What’s a good opportunity look like? It’s pretty simple – a deferred annuity outside of surrender that is NOT intended to be utilized for income and/or is positioned to be liquidated in the event of an emergency and/or is simply positioned to pass on when the annuity holder passes on.
Go ahead, I dare ya. Look at your book of business – I bet that you find annuities that should be doing more. I dare ya.
Fridays with Fisher 