About this product: Why look into annuities? If you’re a Baby Boomer with little or no pension and most of your money in low-interest savings accounts, an annuity may be the key to a secure and comfortable retirement. How can you find out whether an annuity is right for you? Read Annuities For Dummies, 3rd Edition.
This completely revised and updated, plain-English guide is packed with the latest information on choosing the best annuity for your retirement needs. You’ll find out exactly what annuities are, whether they’re the right financial vehicle for you, and which of the many annuity options might have your name on it. You’ll learn the ins and outs of using annuities to fund your retirement years, figure out whether to stress investments with insurance or insurance with investments, and find out how the right combination of annuities can help you squeeze more income out of your savings that any other financial tool. Discover how to:
Identify the main types of annuities
Weigh the pros and cons of annuities for yourself
Minimize the complexity and cost of your annuity investment
Figure out how much money to commit
Avoid common annuity pitfalls
Create an income you can’t outlive
The time to start securing your financial future is now. Annuities For Dummies, 3rd Edition, gives you knowledge, insider tips, and expert advice you need to make your money do its best for you.
About this product: Annuities have become one of the most popular ways to save for retirement and also one of the most misunderstood, overhyped, and dangerous investment vehicles available today. Some annuities are worth the money...but too many are flawed, overpriced, and packed with hidden fees that make them absolutely horrible investments. In The Truth About Buying Annuities, consumer finance expert Steven Weisman helps you make smart decisions about annuities and avoid the lies, misrepresentations, and ripoffs that await uninformed investors. From start to finish, Weisman delivers quick, bite-size, just-the-facts information and plain-English explanations you can actually use. You'll learn all you need to know about immediate, deferred, and variable annuities; actively-managed vs. indexed annuities; inflation-protected and tax-sheltered annuities; and more. Weisman explains the impact of annuities on taxes, Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care, and your other retirement plans.He presents crucial, hard-to-find information about death benefits, joint and survivor annuities, alternatives to annuities, assessing annuity risk, avoiding scams, and even how to escape from a bad annuity you've already purchased. Unlike some books on annuities, this one's simple to read, simple to use, up-to-date, and complete: it's the only annuity guide you need!
About this product: Few individuals have done more to educate the American public about financial scams than Jay Adkisson. As the creator of Quatloos.com, Jay has helped many thousands of people worldwide avoid being scammed out of many millions of dollars to various investment schemes. The U.S. Senate Finance Committee has twice called Jay as an expert witness on abusive tax schemes. As one of the authors of Asset Protection: Concepts and Strategies (McGraw-Hill 2004), Jay has similarly helped thousands of people avoid dubious asset protection schemes.
In his latest book, Equity-Indexed Annuities: The Smart Consumer’s Guide, Jay gives a balanced and objective overview of this advanced form of fixed annuity to better educate consumers of the advantages, disadvantages, and the numerous product options that are available when considering the purchase of this popular retirement vehicle. This short guide covers all the most important issues that consumers should address before purchasing an equity-indexed annuity, including:
How the minimum interest rate is paid, how the maximum return is linked to the stock index, and how participation rates and caps may limit returns.
How surrender charges may limit withdrawal rights for a period of years after the annuity is purchased, and why the annuity should not be purchased if the consumer will need the cash during this period.
How the annuity payments may be made, and what can happen upon the death of the annuitant.
How annuities benefit from tax-deferral, how taxes are paid upon withdrawal or when annuity payments are made, and tax considerations upon the death of the annuitant.
How the annuity and annuity payments may be protected from creditors in some states, and how in other states they may be protected by proper planning done in advance of claims. This guide should also give consumers the ability to intelligently answer the most fundamental question: Is an equity-indexed annuity right for me?
About this product: A comprehensive, convenient overview for investors.
The only authoritative, concise guide to investing in annuities, this completely up-to-date book includes detailed information on every kind of annuity instrument available to the general investor, including extensive information on the hottest, most controversial category—variable annuities. Written in clear, accessible language, this is the ideal reference guide to this growing investment option.
• Written by an expert in the field of personal investment and a seasoned writer/journalist on the subject • Includes a variety of actuary and investment tables to help you understand how your investments in annuities will perform
About this product: Swiss Annuities and Life Insurance examines the key characteristics of Swiss annuities and life insurance, and explains how the use of these products can help you achieve asset protection, growth, and, in some cases, significant tax planning opportunities. Swiss annuities and life insurance are an excellent alternative investment, particularly for high-net-worth individuals. With this expert guidebook, you too will learn how to safely capitalize on these attractive products.
About this product: Highly Recommended, but even that doesn't do appropriate justice to this work. John Olsen and Michael Kitces, both of whom are nationally known and held in the highest regard by many top attorneys and planners, combine and conspire to directly address the tough issues regarding annuities, i.e., tax considerations, commissions and their effect on performance, complex contracts, pressure by insurance companies to sell in unsuitable situations, and more optional provisions than the mind can grasp. This book takes on these issues and sorts out the reality from the hype by honestly and objectively examining the good and bad of all major types of commercial annuities, from fixed to variable to equity indexed, as well as trust structures involving annuities and the tough section 72(s) issues. The book also includes such useful things as the actuarial tables for taxing annuities, exclusion ratio calculations, and the most pertinent Internal Revenue Code Sections. If this is not the quintessential commercial annuity desk book for planners, then I don't know what is or what ever will be. -- Jay Adkisson
One of the most popular retirement investment options, annuities are also among the most difficult to comprehend. This handy volume provides an in-depth, easy-to-understand look at these complex instruments, revealing exactly what they are, how they work, and what advantages they have over other investment vehicles. Along with performance tables, sample portfolios, and a helpful Q & A section, you'll find up-to-date details on tax law changes, as well as complete information on:
You're no idiot, of course. You have a responsible job, manage the family finances and help the kids with their science projects. But when it comes to buying insurance, you're so overwhelmed that you're ready to say yes to almost any policy. Don't sign on the dotted line! In The Complete Idiot's Guide to Buying Insurance and Annuities you get:
About this product: "One thing is for certain: Variable annuities have become a part of the investment landscape and show no signs of going away."--The Wall Street Journal. The investing public's love of variable annuities has soared so high that The Wall Street Journal started a weekly column on annuities, "Annuity Watch." The reason for the popularity is simple. Variable annuities give investors the opportunity to receive money every year of their life, no matter how long they live. Guaranteed Income for Life explains the benefits of variable annuities. this informative book: Shows specific ways that variable annuities can help investors achieve lifelong financial security; Proves how variable annuities are in many ways superior to more commonly understood mutual funds; Explains the different types of annuities, with tips on how investors can pick the best product for their unique situations.