Five steps to take before you move retirement money into a contract
Maybe someone has recommended an annuity, and you are deciding whether to buy it. Or maybe you already own one and are wondering whether it still belongs in your plan.
The same five questions are a useful place to start. What problem the contract is supposed to solve. What it actually promises, and who stands behind that. What it costs. What you give up. And who is being paid.
This guide walks through them in order. Sometimes an annuity has a real job to do in a plan. Sometimes it does not. The point is to know which one you are looking at.
Inside the guide
- What problem the contract is supposed to solve, whether you are considering one or already own one.
- What an annuity contract promises, and who stands behind that promise.
- Where the cost sits, including surrender charges and the charges built into the contract.
- What you give up: access to the money, control over it, and what a beneficiary receives.
- The four questions to ask about how the person recommending it is paid, and our own answers to the same four.
No product pitch. Nothing to sign. Just five questions worth answering before you make a decision.
