In a recent Gallup survey, many Americans use annuities to gain greater retirement security. Annuities also allow for greater financial confidence in the future. Here are some interesting statistics from the Gallup survey:

90% of annuity owners believe that their annuities have improved their retirement security.

79% of annuity owners believe that their annuities make then feel more comfortable in difficult economic times.

83% of annuity owners believe that annuities help guard against living beyond their retirement savings.

81% of annuity owners believe that their annuities will help them avoid being a financial burden in their retirement years.

Additionally, the Gallup survey …read more

An equity-indexed annuity is a type of fixed annuity that credits the annuity based on the changes to the index upon which the annuity is based, as opposed to the set method of credit rate calculation in other fixed annuities. This means that you may get additional interest if the index happens to change in your favor.
There are a number of safeties associated with equity-indexed annuities. Equity-indexed annuities promise to pay a minimum interest rate decided upon when you purchase the annuity, regardless of whether or not the index-linked rate happens to be lower. You can also rest assured that …read more

Earlier in the week, we took a look at the basics of annuities. Now that you know what is an annuity, let’s take a look at the types of annuities.
There are several different types of annuities tailored to different types of situations and needs. Generally, annuities either depend on the timing of the payout, the method of investment, and the amount of liquidity that the annuity will have.
Immediate annuities and deferred annuities, as the name suggest, differ on when you receive the money from the fund. Immediate annuities have the investor receive the money immediately after investing. If you need …read more

Over the next few weeks, I will be profiling some of the best retirement blogs on the internet. I encourage you to check back often and also visit the blogs that will be featured here.
The first one I will profile is My Retirement Blog, which can be found at MyRetirementBlog.com. This blog has a lot of very useful information and it is updated about once a week. The categories range from Annuities to Scams and from Asset Allocation to Reverse Mortgages.
The blog also has an extensive blog roll and few other resources to help those in the retirement process make …read more

Everyone is really nervous right now about the stock market. And Baby Boomers are particularly nervous, because they have a lot of money in the market and they are concerned about losing their retirement funds at a point where they won’t be able to generate income to replace it. And we all know not to count on Social Insecurity.
Boomers are the biggest single demographic group in the market right now. With our IRA’s, 401k’s, 403b’s, and pension plans, we make up a huge part of the market. As a matter of fact, the stock …read more