Is this the best annuity deal I can find?
6 RepliesJump to last post
I figure Fidelity may have one of the lowest fees, so I asked them to give me a conparison. In the chart below, right hand column shows Fidelity's fee schedule.
Is this pretty much the best deal I can find? Or can another company do better?Fees mean jack-s–t.
What's the gurantees? What are the best case/worst case scenarios? What's the client's concerns? As illustrated on "the other forum", I'm sure there are other alternatives. ING anyone? Bobby would be a great resource for this one.If it is ONLY about tax deferral and not about paying for living benefits, then minimizing fees would be very important since deferral is deferral is deferral
You apparently seem to think best is a direct function of cost only. You’re missing at least half of the equation - benefits.
Value reflects both the costs and the benefits. Harder to do, but more realistic.
Otherwise, the “best” car for everyone would be a Yugo.
[quote=ExPropTrader]Fees mean jack-s–t.
What's the gurantees? What are the best case/worst case scenarios? What's the client's concerns? As illustrated on "the other forum", I'm sure there are other alternatives. ING anyone? Bobby would be a great resource for this one.[/quote]"In the absence of value, price is the ONLY consideration."
Bob Dunwoody, one of my favorite industry 'gurus'.
Fees are not completely irrelevant. It's a question of what you get for the fees, and how that fits the client needs.
For example-Allianz is touting this new Vision income-guarantee product. If the client is 40 and doesn't expect to need income for 20 years, I think it's pretty darn expensive. Better to use a less expensive VA that is more focussed on accumulation guarantees, and do a 1035 later if you're still around to handle the business then.
Be careful about making broad generalizations. We don't want to overcomplicate things, but it's rarely black and white.
I’m not an annuity guy. I’d have to change my screen name if i was. That said, there is no one best annuity. Many of the top annuity product providers have excellent products. Yet ,there is no one size fits all. My team currently is using product from four different providers. And we aren’t limiting ourselves to those providers. We are open to all high quality providers.
The products are applied on a case by case basis determined completely by the client's needs. This seems to be what you've done in your case. And that' the right way to do it. Is there a better product for this client? Only you can tell. Match the client's need with as many products as you can find. Then pick the one that most closely matches that need. It's simple but labor intensive. To do this right you need to be up on all the top products. Lastly, fees are always a factor. But that's all they are, A factor. One of many. Like all other aspects of our life, an annuity sale is a value proposition. Is the benefit received worth the cost? Only the client can make that determination. Your job is to lay it out there and help them understand that your solution is the best alternative and is worth the fee regardless of cost. You're not doing your job if you've not taken the time to look at all the alternatives and to fully understand how they impact the client's situation.