We’ve spoken to Skip West at West Financial and the annuity he talked to us about (we have not committed yet), is the rate you receive is a little over 7%, he told us he receives a 7% commission from the annuity company. If you commit, then you cannot take ANY money out for a determined amount of time (he said it is graduated the the first 12 or 13 years). The annuity company receives usually in the range of 2-3% from the investment they make on your money based on the market. Their side can go up or down but will not change what you receive (unless you’ve withdrawn some and early withdrawal is a huge fee). The other nice thing was that the principal amount never goes down! So that money will be 100% left to your family when you pass. My concern is if my husband would pass before me (he is a good bit older that I), is that if it is within the timeframe where none of it can be withdrawn without penalty, what do I do for additional income that would be gone from his now receiving SS. But I did feel like Skip was very honest with us. He told us pros and cons.
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