Annuity Review

Annuities are some of the most complicated products sold to individuals, and most owners can't say precisely what theirs costs, what it guarantees, or why they own it. That's not a character flaw — the contracts are long, the riders are layered, and the fees are quoted in pieces.

A review is simple: we read the contract, do the math, and hand you the answers in plain English. You'll know before we start how we're paid on any outcome, and keeping what you have is always one of the answers.

The review always ends at one of two doors

And we have no stake in which — that's the point of a second opinion.

Keep it

• The guarantees genuinely fit your income plan
• Surrender costs outweigh what a change would gain
• Sometimes the honest answer is that it's a good contract

Change it

• Costs quietly exceed what the guarantees deliver
• The surrender window has opened and options with it
• Exit routes have different tax treatment — sequencing matters

What never changes: you'll know what you own, what it costs, and why the recommendation is what it is.

Three questions your contract should be able to answer

1. Q1

   What is this costing me — as one number?

   Mortality and expense charges, rider fees, fund expenses, and surrender penalties are quoted separately, in different sections, in different units. Added together, variable annuity costs commonly land between two and three percent a year. Most owners have simply never seen the total written on one line. We put it on one line.

2. Q2

   What does the guarantee actually guarantee?

   The "income base" growing at seven percent is not money — it's a bookkeeping figure used to calculate a future payout, and it can't be withdrawn or inherited as a lump sum. Whether the rider is genuinely valuable depends on your age, the payout rate, and what the same dollars could produce elsewhere. Sometimes it's excellent. It's rarely what the illustration implied.

3. Q3

   If I wanted out, what would it cost me — today?

   The surrender schedule, the taxable gain, the ten-percent penalty before 59½, and the 1035 exchange rules each change the answer. An exit that costs thousands this year can be nearly free in eighteen months. Sequencing is most of the game, and nobody selling a replacement is paid to mention it.