Fixed indexed annuities, equity indexed annuities, variable annuities, income annuities, fixed annuities, annuity for retirement, annuity for life and lions, tigers and bears, oh my! There are so many annuities that would seem to take a special financial advisor just to deal with the annuity. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a special designation called the annuity advisor. Investing in annuities is filled with danger.

The problem with every type of annuity is a problem with the industry itself and it’s the fact that huge commissions are attached to these products. So does a huge commission eliminate the effectiveness of a fixed indexed annuity? Does the huge commission make the equity indexed annuity a bad product? Does the huge commission eliminate the tax efficiencies that may be in a variable annuity? The answer is simply no. However, the huge commission encourages the sales of the products, so much, that most financial advisors can’t see the “forest through the trees” or in other words their “advice” (if you can call it that) is just like every hammer is looking for a nail, the annuity advisor is looking for someone to buy an annuity or the financial advisor is looking to sell an annuity.

This is why when you’re investing you need a unique process that forces the right product into the right place, regardless of the commission attached. Most financial advisors, as I’ve mentioned multiple times in my financial video blogs and on the InvestorPeace.com radio show, are actually financial salespeople and their business models are more of a funnel, than a roadmap. This means when you go into their office, their objective is to funnel you into a product, not give you advice. Financial advisor may be their title, but the goal is salesperson. Regardless of your needs, they will suggest an equity indexed annuity. Regardless of your goals, they will suggest a variable annuity. Regardless of your objectives, they will suggest a fixed indexed annuity. Because, THEIR objective is a commission, not financial planning. Think of all annuities as tools in the toolbox. To further the analogy, I can use the back of a screwdriver to hammer a nail into the wall, but that is not what the tool is designed for and therefore it won’t effectively do what I am

trying to do, which is hang a picture. So whether you’re looking at an income annuity or annuities for retirement, remember that it’s a product, FIRST, and it should be PART of the plan. It should never be the plan. Most financial advisors that help with your investing do not have process to limit of the use annuities or eliminate their use all together, we do.