MONEY AND FINANCE

The SEC and Annuities

The SEC and Annuities

The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission does not recommend stocks, bonds, insurance products or, for that matter, any type of investment. However, it does have a website, http://www.sec.gov/answers/annuity.htm, that does one heck of a job explaining annuities.

The opening paragraph on that page says:

“An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance company, under which you make a lump-sum payment or series of payments. In return, the insurer agrees to make periodic payments to you beginning immediately or at some future date. Annuities typically offer tax-deferred growth of earnings and may include a death benefit that will pay your beneficiary a guaranteed minimum amount, such as your total purchase payments.”

It then goes on to explain annuities in greater depth and offers links to SEC pages that explain variable annuities, http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/varannty.htm

and equity-indexed annuities, http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/equityidxannuity.htm

Again, none of this material is meant to persuade the consumer one way or the other. It is meant to educate, inform and help consumers make the best choices they can for their particular situation. The SEC attempts to provide up to date material as products are introduced into the market.

The above referenced SEC web pages are a great start to becoming informed and putting annuities into perspective on how they do, or don’t fit, your particular portfolio. Annuities may not be right for you at this point in time but with the information you now have, you will know when the time comes if your portfolio should contain an annuity. Not only contain an annuity but the type of annuity that fits your investment goals and objectives.

Information is king. Without it, a consumer can stumgle and bumble and make bad decisions. The object of this site is to keep you as informed as possible and give you a wide range of resources.

Find out what more and more Americans are disocvering everyday about Annuities.

Don’t stop there, you need to read these too!