You trade something away for every annuity guarantee. Andrea shows you both halves, surrender period included, before you move a dollar into one.
Income the contract would pay you every year, for as long as you live.
Sample payout rates only. What a contract pays depends on the carrier, the product, your age when income starts and the state you live in. The carrier guarantees nothing until it issues your contract.
And one it does not, which is holding money you might need next year.
An annuity is a contract with an insurance company. You hand over a lump sum or a series of payments, and the company guarantees either growth without market losses or an income you cannot outlive. The guarantee is backed by that insurer's ability to pay claims, not by the FDIC.
A down market cannot take a bite out of this money. A fixed or fixed indexed contract credits zero in a bad year rather than a loss. The price of that floor is a cap on what a strong year pays you.
An income annuity turns a lump sum into a payment that keeps arriving at 85, at 95, for as long as you are here. Draw down a savings account carefully as you like, it still has a last dollar in it.
Growth inside a non-qualified annuity goes untaxed each year, so the full balance keeps compounding instead of the after-tax remainder. The bill arrives when you withdraw, gains first, at ordinary income rates.
Most contracts lock money down with a surrender charge for five to ten years. If you might need that money sooner, an annuity is the wrong home for it, and Andrea would rather tell you that than write the contract.
The surrender period and the guarantee behind it matter more than the headline rate.
A set interest rate guaranteed for a stated number of years, much like a bank CD but issued by an insurance company and taxed differently. You know the exact value at the end of the term.
Interest is credited based on the movement of a market index, subject to a cap or a participation rate. You do not lose principal to market declines, and you do not receive the index's full gain either.
You hand over a lump sum and payments start within about a year and continue for life, or for life and then to a spouse. This is the one people mean when they say private pension.
None of this is fine print to Andrea. If a contract is wrong for you, the honest answer is to leave the money where it is.
Take out more than the contract allows during the surrender period, commonly five to ten years, and the company keeps a percentage. Most contracts do let you withdraw around ten percent a year without a charge.
Withdrawals of gains before age 59 and a half can trigger a ten percent IRS penalty on top of ordinary income tax. This is federal tax law, not a carrier rule.
An annuity is not FDIC insured. The guarantee rests on the issuing insurance company's claims-paying ability, with your state's guaranty association behind it up to limits that vary by state.
Every annuity contract comes with a free-look period after delivery during which you can cancel and get your money back. The length is set by state law. Read the contract during it.
Nothing gets submitted until you say so, and the help costs you nothing either way.
Income starting soon, growth you do not want exposed to the market, or money you are leaving to somebody. Each one points at a different contract.
Andrea lays the options side by side with the surrender period, the guarantee and the access rules visible, not buried.
You read the contract during the free-look window with Andrea on the phone to answer questions.
The same person handles all four, so you are never starting over with a stranger.
Advantage, Supplement and Part D plans compared against your own doctors and your own prescription list.
See Medicare helpA smaller whole life policy sized to a funeral and the bills that come with it, usually with no medical exam.
See final expenseLarger coverage for the years a mortgage or a paycheck still has to be replaced, in term or permanent.
See life insuranceFamily Solutions Center is Andrea Cannon. She walks you through the options and she files the application. Two years later, when a claim comes up or your plan changes underneath you, she is still the one on the line.
She covers Medicare, final expense, life insurance and annuities. Ask about a drug plan in the fall and about life insurance in the spring, and you explain your situation once.
No. A bank CD is FDIC insured and usually runs one to five years. A fixed annuity is issued by an insurance company and backed by that company, not the FDIC. It typically runs longer and grows tax-deferred, so no 1099 arrives each year.
A 401(k) is an account with a tax rule attached, and whatever sits inside it stays exposed to the market. An annuity is a contract with an insurance company, and the contract adds a guarantee: no losses in a down year, or income for life. You can also hold an annuity inside an IRA or a 401(k) rollover, so this is not an either-or choice.
That depends on the contract. Deferred annuities normally pay the remaining account value to your named beneficiary. Income annuities depend on the payout option you chose: a life-only option stops at death, while period-certain and joint-life options keep paying. Andrea makes sure you pick that on purpose.
Usually yes, within limits. Most contracts allow a free withdrawal of around ten percent of the value each year. Beyond that, a surrender charge applies during the surrender period. Under age 59 and a half, a ten percent IRS penalty on the gains can apply too.
Growth is tax-deferred until you withdraw. In a non-qualified annuity, gains come out first and are taxed as ordinary income, not at capital gains rates. Annuities held inside an IRA follow the IRA's own rules. Your tax advisor should sign off on the specifics.
The guarantees are contractual obligations of the insurance company that issues the annuity, not government-insured deposits. State guaranty associations provide a backstop up to limits that differ by state. Andrea looks at the carrier's financial strength ratings with you before recommending one.
Anyone who might need the money inside the surrender period, anyone who has not yet funded an emergency reserve, and anyone being pushed toward one without a clear reason. If that is you, Andrea will tell you to keep the money where it is.
Andrea goes through the guarantees, the surrender period and the tax rules before anything gets signed.
Andrea has your request and will reach out at the time you picked. If you would rather not wait, call (323) 393-5839.
