Capital Markets U.com » Variable Annuity

FINRA Fines Bank B-Ds For Variable Annuity Sales

Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:57:07 +0000

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined five bank broker-dealers a total of $1.65 million for deficient supervision and procedures related to variable annuity (VA), mutual fund or unit investment trust (UIT) transactions.

Brokers at each of the firms operated out of branches of affiliated banks, selling VAs, mutual funds or UITs to bank customers, who, in many instances, were elderly. The brokerage customers were referred by bank personnel, and sales of these financial products represented a significant portion of each firm’s business.

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FINRA Fines Bank B-Ds For Variable Annuity Sales

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“Forewarned is Forearmed: How to Purchase an Annuity (or not) You Will Never Regret!” is a valuable resource for those contemplating the purchase of an annuity. If your local bank investment sales person is pushing the idea of an annuity, be sure to do your homework and read “Forewarned is Forearmed” first. Click on the hyperlink to read more about “Forewarned is Forearmed.”

Review Shows Widespread Hike in Variable Annuity Fees

Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:13:54 +0000

A review of 10 of the largest variable annuity providers by Symetra Life Insurance found widespread increases in the fees charged to customers, reductions in guarantees and benefits offered under many riders and sometimes the elimination of an entire guaranteed living benefit offering according to Paul Menchaca in a brief article in financial-planning.com magazine, a publication for the financial planning community. Fees in most variable annuities were already egregious and now they are being raised by “9 out of 10″ of the largest providers of variable annuities according to the Symetra study.

This underscores the importance of what I have attempted to do with Forewarned is Forearmed: How to Purchase an Annuity (or not) You Will Never Regret! In Forewarned, among other things, I related how you can uncover the tremendous costs of most annuities and make an informed decision as to whether or not the guarantees they offer are worth it. In my opinion, they generally are not.

For those interested, you can read more about Forewarned is Forearmed, the first E-Book publication for Capital Markets U.com, at cmubooks.com.

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“Investor Education for Main Street America”

How to Purchase an Annuity

Charles L. Stanley CFP® ChFC® AIF® — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:10:55 +0000

Why would someone purchase an annuity? What goals would one have in order to want to purchase an annuity? How do you know if the insurance company is really a financially strong and sound company? Should you be looking at a fixed annuity? An Equity-Indexed Annuity? A Variable Annuity? A deferred annuity? An immediate annuity? How do you know what all of the costs are for a particular annuity? How do you know if an annuity is a good deal or not? What are the alternatives to an annuity? Should you maybe be making a different investment instead of an annuity?

There are lots of questions, aren’t there?

Forewarned is Forearmed was written to be a consumer protection book. There has been so much abuse in the United States in the past few years that there have been special Alerts issued by the SEC, FINRA and several State’s Attorney General Offices warning about abusive annuity sales efforts. Forewarned is Forearmed will provide you with both factual data about annuities and some recommendations for how to evaluate an annuity offering and decide if it may be right for you.

To get more details about Forewarned is Forearmed, visit the special Forewarned is Forearmed page where you can learn more and add it to your shopping cart.

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“Investor Education for Main Street America”