Annuities from ARS American Retirement Specialists
 

Has anyone dealt with ARS and bought their hybrid annuities?. The say they are fiduciaries and claim they can get you annuities that go up with the market and never lose money.

Never lose money. What might ol P T Barnum say?????

20 years ago, wife & I bought a small annuity with same pitch. It was a loser! While in fact, it never went down, the increase after the first years was capped by the company at 4%, way below long term market performance. Was indexed to S&P growth, capped and excluded dividend returns. Hefty penalty to bail. We took max out without penalty (10%/year) until penalty period was over (15 years I think) then cashed out. BAD INVESTMENT!!!

Typical commission on an annuity to the salesman runs 10%.

My additional advice, take time to read Paul Merriman’s 3 FREE ebooks.
1. First-Time Investor
2. 101 Investment Decisions
3. Get Smart or Get Screwed (read this first!)

Found at paulmerriman.com

Make sure that you fully understand the "never lose money" promise. It is usually worthless. It only means that, if you sell the annuity and the stock market is lower than it was when you purchased the annuity, you will not lose the market value between the initial purchase date and the sale date. If the stock market goes up this year and down next year, they "imply" that your account only goes up. Not true. The "never lose money" calculation is only applied to the cumulative market loss over the entire time that you had the money invested. It does not apply to the annual ups and downs in the stock market. Also, most annuities have a 7-10 year surrender charge, and high annual maintenance fees. But, they define the maintenance fees and the surrender charge as "fees", not as lost money. And, you usually only get about 80 to 85 percent of the market increases, not 100 percent.

You might consider a "Fee only " financial planer, they get their fee up front, no commission ( unless they steer you to somebody else) they can give you an overview of the many financial aspects that can affect your situation as well as specific advise

There is an old saying, annuities are never purchased they are sold.

Think long and hard before buying one.

An annuity the math is deliberately complex an opportunity to SPIN the numbers. The simple math. The commission is like 20%-the reason they are aggressively sold. That means that IF, you invest, COMMIT, say 100,000 it means that 80,000 need to get the return of your original 100,000. How can they do that? Some of the return is you own money being paid out to you.

IF, you need steady income you can go to a brokerage and set up an account in say an index fund and have them send you a check every month. Your returns would be based on ZERO commissions and ZERO fees. You will pay the minimal management fee for an index fund. You will need to consult an accountant to explain advantages and disadvantages TAX WISE.

Run like hell.
They are a money maker for Insurance company's

And of course the guy who sells them.

We have been to several retirement dinners where they pitch annuities. They show a 20 year period where the market only went up 3-4% and see you can do better with our super duper annuities.

They never seem to like it when I ask them to start the 20 years a few years later. Wonder why?

Only vanguard or fidelity if you must. Big commission for the seller

So not true. The adjustment is from year to year. As a retiree who is more interested in the return OF my money than the return ON my money, Indexed Annuities prevents a catastrophic loss when you can least afford it and provides a modest return in an up market with zero downside risk. Not for everyone but definitely has a place in the senior market.

You have no idea what you are talking about. The commission NEVER comes off the principal. Try getting the facts before spouting off nonsense. Simple advice. If you don't like annuities, don't buy them. Just quit spreading misinformation.

Ha! Ha,!! ..what a laugher! A fidouchery!! Everyone is calling themselves a “fiduciary” now. Even my plumber. That’s the FIRST lie they tell you.
Let me open up my raincoat..got a couple watches to sell ya.

You make some good points, and there is some misinformation about annuities. But, most of the misinformation is spread by the people who sell the annuities to make a huge commission. I think it is outrageous that an annuity contract is often more than 150 pages of complicated legalese, and the salesperson will not even provide you with a copy to review before you pay the money and agree to the contract. So, you are at the mercy of the salesperson to get information, which is often slanted, wrong, incomplete, and presented in a way to make the annuity sound like a great investment. Many people, if not most of them, are persuaded to buy an annuity without fully understanding what they are buying.

Hybrid annuities can lose money but there is a fixed % on the down side, Fixed Index Annuities can not lose money

Worst investment you can make

You can always call the company direct and ask for a sample policy……
I will agree I one thing annuities in The Villages from poster boy and the other are being missed sold and over sold at the clients cost with riders fees.
Get a simple no fee Fixed Index no more then 7 year schedule, no Riders and you will average 4-5% at not risk, for about 20-30% of your net worth (not including your home) for a safety shield from market lost.
Being all in anything make zero since. Fixed Index Annuities make a good foundation for you investments, again as long as your not putting those stupid Income Riders on it.

After you asked that question did you have to pay for your dinner.

Interesting. Where does the commission come from?

No but they were not surprised when I did not agree to come to their office for the no obligation one on one meeting.

Just another version of car salesman. A product you don’t need at a terrible cost.

Not exactly. I have called several insurance companies in the past to ask for a policy document to advise friends on a specific annuity they were being sold. None of them would send me a sample policy. Two or them were very rude and actually hung up on me. As explained to me, their procedure is to provide a brochure and for the salesperson to answer any questions about the annuity. You must provide the invested money and sign an agreement to purchase the annuity. Then, the insurance company will send you the entire contract, which is typically more than 150 pages. If you don't like the contract, you have 30 days to revoke it and ask for a refund of your money. That was my experience in trying to obtain an annuity contract.

This is only for the young and it might sound ghoulish, but someone I met told me they invest in insurance policies. A broker feeds him information on people who cannot afford insurance and are not the best in health and he pays them a fee up front or a percentage to their families. They in turn let him become the owner and beneficiary.
He showed me the figures I was shocked; he is now paying 50K a year in premiums and if he outlives all of them, he's good for 1.8 million. This guy already made over a million. Most of us here in the TV are too old for this. But if you have a son or daughter, and they know an agent and don't mind the optics of this, they should talk it over with them. He swore this was perfectly legal.

I am not knowledgeable of hybrid annuities or ARS.

I have a Allianz 222 annuity. it is a fixed annuity. It offers lifetime income after 10 years with no market losses. The "Protected Income Value" (PIV) is the basis for the lifetime income. The downside is I have experienced modest increases to my PIV mainly due to caps, spreads, participation rates. The upside is "guaranteed lifetime" and bonus increases for the PIV.

Here is information from their website.Allianz 222 offers you principal protection from market loss, potential indexed interest, and the potential for tax-deferred growth. It also gives you two ways to receive income increases, two ways to get a bonus,1 and two ways for your beneficiaries to get a death benefit.2 You can also start income payments after as few as 10 years.

It's not legal if the broker is concealing the health status of the clients from the insurance company. He is supposed to represent the company. Insurance companies aren't stupid. They require the health status to be revealed, a medical examine, or a waiting period before accepting the policy. It sounds like the broker may be defrauding his own company.

If a broker sells enough annuities, they could have a polo team

Or own his own MLB baseball team. Might sell at a discount right now.

I assume the insurance companies know the health of the individual, since as he said he doesn't even know these people. He showed me one where he is paying less than 3 thousand in premiums a year for a 100K policy. The insured wife is supposed to get 1/3 of the benefits and it's already written into the policy, so the insurance company handles the distribution. Even with just 2/3 he's still good for 66K. Now that I think about it, I've been seeing advertisements on TV about selling your policies.

Hire “Fee Only” Consultant
 

Yes, fee only is the way to go. You pay them up front for advice and avoid sales commissions. They work for you and not the investment institution. Annuities such as ARS may have a place in your portfolio, the fee only planner can work that out for you. (Ours told us not to do an annuity.)

Buying an existing policy and buying a new policy are two different things. People can sell an existing policy when they need cash, but the company that buys the policy gets a huge discount and makes a profit. But, if you expect to make money by buying a new policy, then you are trying to outsmart the insurance company. I don't think that would be a very predictable or successful way to make money. But, it's great for the broker who gets a commission for selling the policy. That may be the whole point.

Why do business with liars when there are plenty of honest companies out there?

So we are on page 3 of a typical annuity stream on the internet. First the haters who have never actually researched anything, then those who
Parrot “not a good investment” when it isn’t an investment at all, finally those who own one type of annuity but don’t understand the other types. And of course those who whine about the commissions (same people who paid $300k for a view of a marsh and never batted an eye about the huge real estate commission, I guess insurance agents are not supposed to eat), when they have zero to do with the question. At this point the poor original poster has no answer to his question.
So there are several type of annuities- MYGA, SPIA, DIA, VA, FIA, and now Hybrids. They are insurance contracts, not investments, but some act like investments. I own a VA and an FIA both with income riders (that’s why I bought them for guaranteed income)
NO way I am going to explain Hybrid annuities here but I will tell you it is like a fixed index annuity without the good part of your money never goes down. I would stay away. That said, you have to figure out what you want the annuity to do THEN look at the product.
I highly recommend you educate yourself by buying and reading Everything Wade Pfau ever wrote but start with safety first investing. He also has a bunch of stuff where he has been interviewed on YouTube-do a search. Also, you can watch “Stan the annuity man” on YouTube even though I don’t agree with everything he says he gives a good education.
The last thing you should do is listen to the people on here

He never told me if they were new policies or old, I just saw the returned he had already made on his money and the prospects to make more in the future. He wasn't trying to sell me anything he was more or less bragging. As I see it if your young and healthy, this could be a better investment than the stock market.

Don;t get mislead by the term fiduciary. It has become meaningless. Everyone in the business is a fiduciary. RUN

To be clear, I am not defending annuities. They are typically a bad investment compared to other options. It's always the "compared to other options" that makes the difference. Here are a few best case scenarios where you could consider an annuity.

We are in a bear market, and you want to protect some principle for a needed expense in a future date. Since the original investment is guaranteed, the commission may seen like a reasonable insurance policy. Of course, cash acts much the same way, but you sacrifice any chance for the upside.

As a small part of your overall retirement. During a downturn, you could draw off of the guaranteed principle instead of taking losses on your growth/income portfolio.

Here's my last example from personal experience. Upon my grandfather's death, my grandmother gifted each grandchild a $25,000 annuity. We were all relatively young, and understood there was a severe penalty for withdrawal before 59 1/2. Well, I just did the calculation on that annuity now, 30 years later. The rate of return is 6.6%. That's below the market average, but it was safe when gifted, had a mechanism to discourage cashing out, and taught us all a lot about investing (I think that was my grandmother's entire point).

Avoid them. Period. You have better choices. Plenty of websites with reviews of products. Salesmen are Not your friend. free investment advice from a board is hazardous to your wealth.

You are obviously defending annuities. Why not be honest?

Any product that complicated is not worth investing in.

Like any shell game.

Very true they make it so the average person cannot make head or tails over it and is taken in by the salesman.