Appropriate to roll over entire 401k to FIA?

[Allen Trent]

Completely unrelated cases in different States. Probably never have that happen again. It's a shame you have to work in a bank to get to make that steady 9-5 living as an annuity writer, instead of the desperate battle of health and life sales. It would be like a dream

be careful what you asked for. most of those banks eat the commissions & pass along very little to the producer in the corner office. Always shocked me why banks would promote taking an asset they have on deposit generating annual returns & send the money off to an insurance carrier in exchange for a 1 time commission, but still get the grief of service & consumer expectation.

 

[LostDollar]

be careful what you asked for. most of those banks eat the commissions & pass along very little to the producer in the corner office. Always shocked me why banks would promote taking an asset they have on deposit generating annual returns & send the money off to an insurance carrier in exchange for a 1 time commission, but still get the grief of service & consumer expectation.

With the three credit unions I spoke to about buying an annuity, the credit union recommended investment advisors selling the annuity seemed to have a business separate from the credit union, just "helping" the credit union by offering financial advisory services and products the credit union did not.

One advisor did not respond at all to my request for help, the other two told me they would have to have all my assets under management before they would, or could, help me.

In those situations the credit union would shouldn't have had the service and customer expectation problems. I don't understand the financial services industry well enough to work out the synergistic effect of those business relationships.

 

[Tahoe Ray]

With the three credit unions I spoke to about buying an annuity, the credit union recommended investment advisors selling the annuity seemed to have a business separate from the credit union, just "helping" the credit union by offering financial advisory services and products the credit union did not.

One advisor did not respond at all to my request for help, the other two told me they would have to have all my assets under management before they would, or could, help me.

In those situations the credit union would shouldn't have had the service and customer expectation problems. I don't understand the financial services industry well enough to work out the synergistic effect of those business relationships.

I'm not sure why you felt the need to go to a bank rep to get a fixed annuity.

Pick one that you like and then just tell any licensed agent to go buy it for you. Most agents aren't constrained like employees of a bank may be. Your financial relationship is still directly with the company so who cares who facilitates the purchase (assuming that you already know what you want).

 

[scagnt83]

With the three credit unions I spoke to about buying an annuity, the credit union recommended investment advisors selling the annuity seemed to have a business separate from the credit union, just "helping" the credit union by offering financial advisory services and products the credit union did not.

One advisor did not respond at all to my request for help, the other two told me they would have to have all my assets under management before they would, or could, help me.

In those situations the credit union would shouldn't have had the service and customer expectation problems. I don't understand the financial services industry well enough to work out the synergistic effect of those business relationships.

Those offices were certainly compensating the bank. Either directly or indirectly.

It sounds like those were wealth advisors who have minimum asset requirements to be a client. Not all are like that, but many are.

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LD. There is an old saying. You get what you pay for.

If you want to put in the bare minimum, you often get the bare minimum. I get we are talking thousands of dollars.... but you are asking an agent to take on thousands of dollars of risk... for a few hundred dollars.

You could turn around and sue them for $10k, when they only made $300. Not a risk most agents are willing to take. Because regardless of the amount sued for, it will cost the agent $5k minimum in legal fees. They are risking being forced to pay $5k, just to make $300. All for doing the same amount of work they do on a case that pays them $2k or $3k.

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There is also another old saying: jack of all trades, master of none.

You cant be everything. You cant learn everything. At some point you have to trust someone elses expertise.

Do you change the oil in your car? How about a new brake pump? Do you install that yourself?

"Do it yourselfers" spend an ungodly amount of time trying to learn the ins and outs of the situation.... would that time not be better spent with family, or on a passion project or hobby?

When you were 40, was your vision of a retirement plan you yourself doing all the work researching and planning and spending countless hours trying to figure out how to fit all the pieces together?

And a good advisor is going to educate you way more than your online research will. They will evaluate your situation and talk to you about your specific needs. They teach you how it all fits together and what makes the most sense. It will be far more informative (and relevant) than 20 hours of online research about general subjects.

I know trust is a hard thing when it comes to money. But if you dont learn to trust again, at some point the sh*t is going to hit the fan financially in retirement. Almost all retirees go through phases where they are unable to effectively make financial decisions. It is extremely beneficial for them to have an established trusted relationship with a financial professional when that happens. Even if they dont manage all of your assets, they know the situation and are able to help other family members sort though it all. Then there is the issue of the current situation not being as efficient as it could be.

None of this is me bashing you. Just giving you some food for thought based on your posts in the annuity section. It feels like you are on the pot and your legs have fallen asleep.... you cant get off and you cant sh*t... you are just stuck. It might be worth while to "pay" a bit more to establish a solid relationship with a trusted advisor. It could take a whole lot of stress and time off your plate.

 

[LostDollar]

I'm not sure why you felt the need to go to a bank rep to get a fixed annuity.

Pick one that you like and then just tell any licensed agent to go buy it for you. Most agents aren't constrained like employees of a bank may be. Your financial relationship is still directly with the company so who cares who facilitates the purchase (assuming that you already know what you want).

The specific purpose of the comment I made was to say to Allen, in relation to his response to Bill, based on my limited experience with Credit Unions, as opposed to Banks, the annuity selling people appeared to be separate business persons rather than employees of the bank.

I believe, but am not absolutely certain, that my comments also apply to two banks where I have had accounts; One a large local bank, the other a large regional bank.

If those are representative of common business practices, the more appropriate wish for Bill to be expressing, and to receive comments about, would be to have the annuity writing business relationship with a large financial institution where the cries for assistance roll in in an unceasing flood every day.

Just an opinion from the outside looking in and reading posts.

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As far as my specific situation and your comment to it;

The annuity I wanted at the time was an annuity offered only through financial institutions (at least as far as I could see from carrier information), that is why I communicated (or attempted to communicate) with the people I spoke about.

Although in the same time frame I communicated by phone with three other non-financial institution financial advisors and they operated precisely the same way, they would engage in no assistance with, or sales to, me unless I placed all my assets under their management.

Shortly thereafter, Credit Union (local and NFCU) cd (short term) interest rates started rising so that removed the annuity purchase as a concern from my horizon (at that time).

Your comments earlier in the thread have left me wondering if I need to rethink that at this time. I am not sure that I am seeing your comment in BluePrint Income and Credit Union current rates, but I also have to think that A) you see far more information than I do, and B) you have likely developed some instinct for those things that I will never have, so I can see your comments as a "canary in the coal mine" type of warning. I appreciate seeing the "you're missing the point" comment, I just haven't yet figured out how I should respond in terms of arranging my finances.

 

[Tahoe Ray]

The specific purpose of the comment I made was to say to Allen, in relation to his response to Bill, based on my limited experience with Credit Unions, as opposed to Banks, the annuity selling people appeared to be separate business persons rather than employees of the bank.

I believe, but am not absolutely certain, that my comments also apply to two banks where I have had accounts; One a large local bank, the other a large regional bank.

If those are representative of common business practices, the more appropriate wish for Bill to be expressing, and to receive comments about, would be to have the annuity writing business relationship with a large financial institution where the cries for assistance roll in in an unceasing flood every day.

Just an opinion from the outside looking in and reading posts.

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As far as my specific situation and your comment to it;

The annuity I wanted at the time was an annuity offered only through financial institutions (at least as far as I could see from carrier information), that is why I communicated (or attempted to communicate) with the people I spoke about.

Although in the same time frame I communicated by phone with three other non-financial institution financial advisors and they operated precisely the same way, they would engage in no assistance with, or sales to, me unless I placed all my assets under their management.

Shortly thereafter, Credit Union (local and NFCU) cd (short term) interest rates started rising so that removed the annuity purchase as a concern from my horizon (at that time).

Your comments earlier in the thread have left me wondering if I need to rethink that at this time. I am not sure that I am seeing your comment in BluePrint Income and Credit Union current rates, but I also have to think that A) you see far more information than I do, and B) you have likely developed some instinct for those things that I will never have, so I can see your comments as a "canary in the coal mine" type of warning. I appreciate seeing the "you're missing the point" comment, I just haven't figured out how I should respond in terms of arranging my finances.

They're separate and the same. I was a bank wholesaler for years. The banks make arrangements with b/ds in some cases and in some cases, they have their own (employees).

I guess my point was just that people can overthink this stuff. I know it's a lot of money. I know that it's YOUR money. But ultimately doing nothing can be damaging to your current situation.

Blueprint is just a website. If I had the desire, I could have literally done what they do years ago. They are just giving you current rates. I'm trying to tell you what's actually going to happen.

Most bank reps are a starting point in their careers. Not disparaging all of them because there are some really smart bank reps but I would want my rep to have been in the business for at least 10 years before I let them advise me.

And there is no "canary in the coal mine". It's just current rates. You get what you get. I was just saying that after 25 years in this business, I know what's going to happen because it's what always happens. These carrier front-run potential rate increases and then back off when they take in too much in obligations and/or their service goes to shit.

When fed rates level, they'll decrease rates. It's happened forever.

I try to keep things simple because I went to a state school.

 

[bill3173]

When fed rates level, they'll decrease rates. It's happened forever.

Well, I guess that's good news for the MYGA annuity holders, if they need to bail out early.

 

[Allen Trent]

Well, I guess that's good news for the MYGA annuity holders, if they need to bail out early.

Interested to know how someone bailing out of MYGA with surrender charges would benefit from lower crediting rates on a carriers new MYGA crediting rate at the time of bailing out?

Are you thinking of MVA?

 

[bill3173]

Interested to know how someone bailing out of MYGA with surrender charges would benefit from lower crediting rates on a carriers new MYGA crediting rate at the time of bailing out?

Are you thinking of MVA?

Yes, mva rises and falls inverse to interest rates

 

[Allen Trent]

Yes, mva rises and falls inverse to interest rates

MYGA don't have to have MVA & really not sure why an agent would introduce that added complexity to a target market of seniors more interested in plain vanilla straight forward CD-like annuity. Plus, many agents explain MVA backwards by telling someone they will benefit if when they cash out early as the carrier will credit the higher rate in the rising interest rate market