Wife wants an annuity but which one?

[obewan]

I deal with Medicare products for seniors and very few annuities. Set my sister up with one and also a cousin.
I really only know the basics. Any recommendations for a 62 year old female (wife) who doesn't really need the income from it. It would only be about a 40,000 annuity, that she would periodically take out for emergencies only. Unless there's a different product I should look into. Of course I would also look at commission level and contracting, in order to be a part of my book of business.

 

[Newby]

I deal with Medicare products for seniors and very few annuities. Set my sister up with one and also a cousin.
I really only know the basics. Any recommendations for a 62 year old female (wife) who doesn't really need the income from it. It would only be about a 40,000 annuity, that she would periodically take out for emergencies only. Unless there's a different product I should look into. Of course I would also look at commission level and contracting, in order to be a part of my book of business.

Search for Tahoe Ray here on the forum. He is a very knowledgeable agent for annuities. He stays on top of that market.

 

[jasperjohns]

I deal with Medicare products for seniors and very few annuities. Set my sister up with one and also a cousin.
I really only know the basics. Any recommendations for a 62 year old female (wife) who doesn't really need the income from it. It would only be about a 40,000 annuity, that she would periodically take out for emergencies only. Unless there's a different product I should look into. Of course I would also look at commission level and contracting, in order to be a part of my book of business.

Obewan,

Great American has some great products with very competitive caps and good liquidity as most of their products allow 10% penalty free in year one. Commission is not the best but products are great and company is easy to work with. Another good company to look at is Global Atlantic. I tend to stay away from Allianz as they can be a pain to work with and their caps are not really that competitive. And finally Athene has some great products and has a family called the Performance Elite that has a liquidity rider that can be added to the products for a fee. Caps are great and both Athene and Great American have done a good job keeping caps competitive even at renewal. Athene will offer better comp than Great American. Hope this helps,

 

[fed up]

I would want more information on the "periodically take money out for emergencies" statement. 40K isn't that great an amount but needing 5K after the penalty free withdrawal stage might be a reason to think this through. I did a SPIA with period certain so money was flowing immediately. Checks were then deposited into a CD until CD amount was sufficient to place the money in the CD into another annuity. Cash was still flowing, CD's had a sufficient balance, excess redeposited into another annuity

 

[Newby]

Obewan,

Great American has some great products with very competitive caps and good liquidity as most of their products allow 10% penalty free in year one. Commission is not the best but products are great and company is easy to work with. Another good company to look at is Global Atlantic. I tend to stay away from Allianz as they can be a pain to work with and their caps are not really that competitive. And finally Athene has some great products and has a family called the Performance Elite that has a liquidity rider that can be added to the products for a fee. Caps are great and both Athene and Great American have done a good job keeping caps competitive even at renewal. Athene will offer better comp than Great American. Hope this helps,

Not doubting you. I am no annuity expert. But I’ve been amazed at the performance of my own personal Allianz annuity. It’s the uncapped one based on the Barclays index. Got 18% on it last year after the fees and spread. I never thought that any indexed annuity would perform that well.

So I was just surprised to see you mention that one as not a good choice. I bought that one 5-years ago so maybe things have changed with what they offer today?

 

[jasperjohns]

Not doubting you. I am no annuity expert. But I’ve been amazed at the performance of my own personal Allianz annuity. It’s the uncapped one based on the Barclays index. Got 18% on it last year after the fees and spread. I never thought that any indexed annuity would perform that well.

So I was just surprised to see you mention that one as not a good choice. I bought that one 5-years ago so maybe things have changed with what they offer today?

Newby that is a great return. And I have seen some Allianz annuities do very well. i personally have never been a fan on Allianz for a number of reasons. That said, they have been the most frequently written carrier for several years in a row so perhaps I just have a bias.

 

[obewan]

Appreciate all the advice. Now the researching begins

 

[Allen Trent]

I deal with Medicare products for seniors and very few annuities. Set my sister up with one and also a cousin.
I really only know the basics. Any recommendations for a 62 year old female (wife) who doesn't really need the income from it. It would only be about a 40,000 annuity, that she would periodically take out for emergencies only. Unless there's a different product I should look into. Of course I would also look at commission level and contracting, in order to be a part of my book of business.

If this is really not needed for income (Live on Money) & only for emergency with hopes it will be "leave on" money, you might also want to investigate Single Premium WL, especially with a carrier that allows 50-75% of the money to be in the PUAR fund. The PUAR fund can be pulled out or borrowed at anytime.

SPWL withdrawals/distributions are treated just like a NQ annuity in that you have to take out your taxable gains 1st if you take money out, but a SPWL is 100% tax free when you die compared to NQ Annuity having a tax bill to the beneficiaries on all the built up gains.

NQ annuity are great to use for living on, but they can be inefficient tax wise to leave to beneficiaries, especially when you consider that most seniors are in the 0% or very low tax bracket, meaning they are deferring taxes each year on a NQ annuity only to build up larger gains to leave to beneficiaries who are many times in a higher tax brackets, especially when they receive a lump sum annuity payout with gains taxable.

If you are insurable & you guys already have adequate emergency funds & retirement savings, putting the SPWL on your life could also benefit your wife if you passed away. This extra boost from the death benefit would help her offset lost SS income, pension, etc. $40k into a SPWL might provide $100k or more of tax free life insurance to the beneficiary in addition to growing if it is with a carrier with good dividends & the PUAR component.

 

[hunschuld]

There are several companies to look at for accumulation annuities. Athene,Allianz,North American elite products, AIG has a new accumulation product that looks good. American Equity, Annexus amd Pac Life. It depends on what indexes you are comfortable with and how much weight you give to renewal rates. AE ,NA,Pac and Athene have treated my clients very well on renewals meaning the second and 3rd year caps and par rates did not decrease.

 

[kpbdy99]

"... that she would periodically take out for emergencies only." Why would you put money that's potentially going to be needed when the car breaks down in an annuity?