Annuity IQ

When talking about annuities the media is dumb. They never let the public know what type of annuity they are talking about or the fact that there are many different types of Annuity contracts in the marketplace. This story was NOT about variable annuities, instead it was about equity index annuities.

The problem with major media outlets is the fact that they try to tell a story in an hour or less. While the agents “caught” on the show looked like they were trying to pull a fast one, and some were, Dateline never let them finish their sales pitch. While Annuity IQ agrees that equity index annuities are not good investments, we also all agreed that the story was not telling the whole truth about the products. They also did not tell their viewers that the sales people were selling specific companies index annuities. More than likely the agents were selling Allianz, Midland National and Aviva equity index annuities, most of those products are not good for investors.

The bottom line is variable annuities were not discussed and many facts were not disclosed. Equity index annuities need to be regulated more and the industry needs to be cleaned up. While Variable annuities have their faults, they do offer much more than equity index annuities with a few differences. Variable annuities offer real upside potential for investors, shorter surrender schedules and better guarantees and liquidity. While equity index annuities offer long surrender schedules, limited, very limited, upside potential, limited liquidity and extremely high commissions to the agent.

Be very careful when selecting any annuity product and use Annuity IQ to identify the best variable annuity products.