Paul Pent & Associates - Retirement Advice Blog

We talked about this chart on the radio show this week and last. It speaks for itself. Fixed Indexed annuities won the war of return of investment plus there was no market risk involved.

also included is the performance of some "high performing" mutual funds I run into quite a bit because they have been grossly over promoted over the last 20 years. Basically, they have returned about 0% for the last decade.

Suppose you are a 65 year old man and you would like to make sure your wife will have at least $1,000,000 to live on and give to your children upon your death. An extremely inefficient way to do this would be to hold the money in CD's or investments. The best way to pass 1 milliion dollars tax free to your beneficiaries is through a permanent life insurance contract and possibly a Life Insurance Trust. For this article let's just look at how the life insurance numbers break down:

This is a bitter sweat moment for me. Up to this point, Smart Money magazine has done nothing but feed the public with false information about fixed and fixed indexed annuities. Now, they seem to be coming around and I'll be sad if they stop providing us with so much fodder for our radio show. Of course this is purley selfish so I must say, "Welcome to the club, Smart Money." Annuities are a great way to save for retirement. If only they had figured it out a little earlier, so many that listened to their advice wouldn't have lost so much money for their clients.

Here's the link to the article we've been talking about  for the last couple of weeks...Smart Money

Retirement models we've seen in tha past from brokerage houses and mutual fund companies have failed due to two reasons. The earnings aren't what they hoped and people are living longer than what was expected. This only demonstrates once again how important it is to have guaranteed forms of income, even if you live to be 107. Think it's not possible? Check this article out I just found on Bankrate.com...

Have you ever heard that annuities are too expensive to use for retirment planning? Me too, and you know what? Some are. That's why it's wise to shop around when considering annuities for retirement. If shopped properly, annuities can be the least expensive way to retirement plan. A good article on this subject can be found at annuity digest called, Breaking-Down the Annuity Expense Criticism. Check it out...

It should be a positive thing to live to age 100. Unfortunately, those that retired at age 65 have the challenge of funding their retirements for longer than they planned. Here's a good article that addresses the "problem" of financing longevity.

Increase or decrease in the surrender charge of the life insurance policy or annuity contract depending on the current financial markets. The Cash Value is adjusted upward if the policy interest rate is greater than the current interest rate on new money and thus, if interest rates decline after the insurance policy or annuity contract purchase date, the surrender charge becomes less than that exhibited. Conversely, the cash value is adjusted downward if the policy interest rate is less than the current interest rate on new money and thus, if interest rates rise after the insurance policy or annuity contract purchase date, the surrender charge becomes greater than that exhibited.

I can't tell you how many times people come into our offices and think they make about 10% annually on their investments. After looking a little closer, what they usually see in their returns tells a little different story. One year they'll make 10% but the next year they'll lose 12%. What our brains rememeber though, is the gain and not the loss.

The Wall Street Journal has done a good piece in reference to this myth and some others all should see.