Equity Indexed Annuities: Are they the real deal or junk products?

bluemarlin08 · 06-28-2007, 04:43 PM

Could I wear a skirt and high heels?

senior-advisor-indiana · 06-28-2007, 05:14 PM

This thread is just like the media. Since some agents are unethical and sell the product to the wrong people then that means everyone is unethical and doesn't know crap about what they are selling.

John P., I see that the reason you have your opinions is because you didn't get any training in annuites. THat doesn't mean no one else did. I could easily say that no one should sell major med because there are too many choices and way to complicated that you need a college degree. Just because I think I would screw someones major med up doesnt mean you will.

James · 06-28-2007, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluemarlin08

Could I wear a skirt and high heels?

Only if you wear fish net stockings!

arnguy · 06-28-2007, 06:08 PM

In fact, I think if one wants to sell Health coverage, they should at the minimum hold a RN license, just by chance I would need very little additional credit and yes I would have to do my time in training but that would be little problem for me. Yea I think that is a grand idea!

Hey James, would a CNA (certified nurse Assistant or a LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) suffice.?

RolloverCoach · 06-29-2007, 01:27 PM

There are both good and bad EIA's.....
As with anything else, the devil is in the details.

JMO Fan · 09-10-2007, 06:29 PM

NASD is now FINRA, hit EIAs as well as VAs & life settlements:

http://www.finra.org/web/groups/rule...rs/p036816.pdf

FINRA - Press Room - News Release - 9/10/07

SEC supports FINRA on Senior Seminars: Seniors

James · 09-11-2007, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMO Fan

NASD is now FINRA, hit EIAs as well as VAs & life settlements:

FINRA - Press Room - News Release - 9/10/07

So are you saying that it is really the CFP's and the like ripping off all the seniors and near seniors? I like how they use the word "Near Senior", this is getting more and more ridiculous.

dier51 · 09-21-2007, 04:54 PM

Good post............ I started selling IA's in 1998 and I'm still going strong and NOT ONE OF MY CLIENTS has ever LOST ONE dollar with me.
IA's were never designed to beat the stock market, nasdaq ,ect. I have clients that have made 33% over a three year period in a S.P 500 Fixed annuity. 15.9% from May 06/07 with another company. We as agents have to be honest and let the clients know that these types of returns are great but don't count on them every year. There has been some real stinkers out there to. So just be careful on which companies you use. A realistic return over say a ten year period should yield them around 7% to be on the safe side.

Mr. Bill · 09-21-2007, 07:57 PM

Unfortunately, the time the seniors realize they have a junk product is long after the agent has "left the business", then where's the recourse?

Winter · 09-21-2007, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Bill

Unfortunately, the time the seniors realize they have a junk product is long after the agent has "left the business", then where's the recourse?

That is also true of universal life products that blow up or mutual funds that don't deliver or go south. It is not moreso for indexed annuities. You have to make a good recommendation within a class of investments whether annuities or mutual funds or variable life products.

Winter

Mr. Bill · 09-22-2007, 01:15 PM

With mutual funds, it's pretty darn apparent pretty quickly. With life insurance, at least there's insurance, which is going to be far more than the client ever put into the product. The problem with a lot of the FIAs (especially the Allianz ones) is the lost opportunity on the payout side. It will be ugly. As I've said before, the litigation has only just begun. Some attorney groups will make an absolute fortune!

JMO Fan · 11-30-2007, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Gov. Blunt announces new rules to protect Missouri seniors from improper insurance sales practices

JEFFERSON CITY, MO - Gov. Matt Blunt today announced ... filed rules which raise the bar for those selling annuities ....
Unfortunately, our department has seen an influx of equity-indexed annuity consumer complaints over the past year,” said Doug Ommen, director of the Department of Insurance,.... “These rules will give us the enforcement tools we need to go after insurance producers who take advantage of seniors through unsuitable sales of indexed-annuity products.”
Annuity products generally have high commissions for the salesperson and have been sold to some consumers even when they were not right for an individual’s specific investment and insurance needs. Many times financial professionals target seniors by offering “free lunch” investment seminars. Nearly all of these seminars turn into sales presentations and possible unsuitable recommendations.
Until today, the rules only applied to variable annuities, but now they encompass all types of annuities. ... Producers are prohibited from exchanging or switching contracts with an insignificant benefit to the consumer for the purpose of accumulating commissions or executing transactions not authorized by customers. All information used in making recommendations must be documented and signed by the producer recommending the transaction and supervised by an authorized insurer or a qualified entity.
Gov. Blunt has been a strong supporter of these reforms. This year he signed legislation authorizing the extension of these rules to include all annuities. ...
The rules apply to all annuities sold to individuals. ...The department anticipates the rules will become effective by next June.

DIFP News Release

This effectively makes all annuities subject to virtually the same rules as variable annuities.

James · 12-01-2007, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Producers are prohibited from exchanging or switching contracts with an insignificant benefit to the consumer for the purpose of accumulating commissions or executing transactions not authorized by customers. All information used in making recommendations must be documented and signed by the producer recommending the transaction and supervised by an authorized insurer or a qualified entity.

Well, I'm sure this will slow everything down!

Mr. Bill · 12-02-2007, 12:38 AM

Can you believe it? They're cracking down on "executing transactions not authorized by customers"? Really!

James · 12-04-2007, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Bill

Can you believe it? They're cracking down on "executing transactions not authorized by customers"? Really!

Next thing you know they'll be cracking down on the MP side of the biz, making sure no one signs up and pays the upfront premium of life insurance without knowing what they are buying! What is this world coming too?

policy doctor · 12-08-2007, 03:06 PM

For those of you who have been selling annuities for a while, I'm sure you have attended WV Harris seminars when he toured the country.

He certainly did a lot of training on stage which helped many an agent.

Well about a year ago, on his website, there was an article posted that the selling window for annuities was probably about 5 years. By then, they expected the laws to pretty much shut down the practice as we have now.

So that means, we have about 3 or so years left, and I believe that stat, especially as we read and hear articles on regulators tightening up sales practices. Did you know that there are law offices who specialize in recovering , or undoing, annuity sales? Heard that on radio here in Atlanta, as the lawyers discussed this on a financial show.