4/20/2014

What To Look For In An Annuity Advisor

By Essie Osborn


In the most basic way, annuity can be described as an investment contract that an investor enters in with an insurance company and enjoys special tax benefits. Adding it to your investment portfolio can prove very profitable but this starts by selecting the right investment and the right annuity advisor who understands your financial goals.

Annuity investment choice is associated with several advantages. It is an investment vehicle that guarantees steady income especially after retirement. It also increases income that comes at retirement; it also gives a way to protect your assets from any claims from creditors and any probate. Other than this, it is the best way to ensure that you pass more to your heirs.

There are many benefits that are associated with this option which include a guaranteed future cash flow and the retirement income increases every year. This is the easiest way to ensure that you pass something to your heirs and protect any of your assets from the creditors or probate.

The major types of annuities are the variable annuities, equity indexed annuities, fixed annuities and immediate annuities all which are slightly different from each other and as its advantages and disadvantages. With a good advisor, you should get to know which option is better and in which circumstance. It is the duty of the advisor to conduct his planning so that all the requirements put forward by the client are considered. The aim of such financial planning should be to protect and grow the assets of the client and produce a secure retirement income. Actually, not all financial options are appropriate solutions the financial needs for the clients.

Normally, the consultant is expected to advice his or her clients to take the plan that to the best of their interest. This should be the one the client is interested in after being informed of all the necessary details. Basically, a good advisor educates his customers on the investment plans that they are curious about. All these are done why adhering to a strict code of conduct governing the rules of operation.

Some practices that should be avoided by any professional advisor in annuity market include using false information to advertise, avoiding and form of misrepresentation of facts when selling the investment products, the issues of defamation, rebating, using bait and switch to make client by what they had not planned for and twists.

In addition to these, an annuity consultant must adhere to the same rules governing all other players in financial sector. This include talking ill of the services, products and character of their competitors (unless there are proven criminal or civil records to support their case). They should instead focus their effort on informing the current and prospective clients on what the stand to benefit from after they buy the proposed product.

Many consultants prefer not to recommend annuities to their clients once they realize that there is a possibility that insurance company may be having financial difficulties in the future. Annuities are actually the best way to militate against longevity risk. It is the opportunity to protect the client from the financial problems the insurer is facing.

Here are some tips that could help the consultants locate the best option for their clients. Evidence shows that the bigger the insurance firm, the lesser the solvency risks. In addition to this, paying close attention to Fitch, Moodys and S&P ranking can be very helpful. Lastly, it is important to clearly understand the terms of engagement among others.




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