UlTImATE SUccESS GUIdEmust take money out of the account (which may be down at the time)
and pay taxes whether you want to or not. That really puts the govern-
ment in control of your account rather than yourself. You should be in
control of your accounts.
Don’t CoMMIt AnnUICIDeIf you mention to your broker that you are going to buy an annuity they
will suggest to you that you are committing ANNUICIDE. Please re-
member that I said in the beginning that I believe that all investment ve-
hicles have their own place in the investment world. Annuities are just
another financial tool. Keep in mind that I am talking primarily about
fixed annuities and not variable annuities. I am not a fan of variable an-
nuities basically because their fees are generally high but that’s not to
say that they don’t fit some circumstances. In fact I own one myself and
it works well for the purpose I bought it for. They must be used in the
proper situation and they are perfectly good. If you wanted to cut down
a tree you wouldn’t use a shovel. That doesn’t make the shovel bad, it
was just not made for that purpose. Annuities, in the beginning were
designed to provide a stream of income. Today’s annuities are not your
grandfather’s annuities, they have evolved over the years into a great
tool to be used in retirement. Why? Clients that come to me usually
are looking for a lifetime income that they cannot outlive. I know of no
other vehicle that can help them achieve their goal better than annuities.
It is like creating your own pension. ANNUITIES=INCOME. That is
what they are designed to do. Some of the misconceptions brokers will
tell you about annuities are that your money is tied up and when you
die the insurance company will keep what’s left. Those are absolutely
FALSE. It is all a matter of working with a professional that that has a
good knowledge of annuities and proper income planning. Please note
that I did not say annuities are necessarily the best growth vehicle, but
they are very good at providing income which is what they were de-
signed to do. Used in a proper plan they can provide a guaranteed in-
come that you cannot outlive and any remaining balance can be passed
on to your heirs. Your money is not completely tied up because all of
the annuities I offer have a 10% free withdrawal privilege and after the
surrender period there is no penalty for a complete withdrawal.
Today’s annuities are very flexible and offer many choices to people
that are retired or retiring soon. One of the latest additions to annuities