Fixed Annuities

Fixed Annuities

Traditional Fixed Annuity

Traditional fixed annuities offer a guaranteed minimum interest rate and guarantee your principal.  These guarantees are backed by the claims paying ability of the insurance company that issues the contract.  Interest rates vary from company to company, but most only guarantee their CURRENT rate for 12 months; after that, the money compounds at an “old-money” rate that is typically lower than the current rate.  These contracts offer a number of guaranteed payouts called settlement options.  These are typically irrevocable settlement options that often carry lower interest rates.

Indexed Fixed Annuity

These are also fixed in nature, in that they have a guaranteed principal.  However the growth (or lack there-of) is tied to an index, typically the S&P 500 point-to-point movement over a 12 month period WITH NO DIVIDENDS.  If the index goes up, your contract will pay some portion of that gain subject to a cap or participation rate…this is not guaranteed to stay the same.  If the index is flat or has a loss, your contract will pay 0% for that 12 month period.

Both Traditional and Indexed annuities typically have surrender penalties that can range from

5-20+ years and be as high as 15%.  An early withdrawal from a fixed annuity can result in the investor receiving LESS THAN THEY INVESTED.  It is advised that all prospective fixed annuity buyers request and read a specimen contract prior to investing.

The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy.