Axa/equitable
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"I imagine that those who are against annuities due to the high cost and returns may be against LTC. "
Wow, if there's ever been an example of an apples and oranges comparison....
[quote=scrim67]Are most of you generalists or do you focus on a few main products?
Most of my practice is mutual fund managed money programs using asset allocation models.
The other part of my practice is mutual funds.
Perhaps I will present more insurance products and annuities in the future.
Since many of my clientele are middle aged and moderate income/assets LTC might be a good niche.
Has anyone had much success presenting LTC?
scrim[/quote]
I suspect that a lot of us offer a wide range of product but focus on a few favorites. Mine happens to be fee-based accounts, direct mutual funds (for the small stuff) and variable annuities (for those afraid of the market). I also tend to take less up-front commission and more annuitized commissions (hence fee-based, C-share mutuals and 4%/1% trail annuities). When it comes to payout structure, I guess I am the anti-Dirk.
As far as LTC goes, I do a little of that too, but tend to focus on stuff like Lincoln's Moneyguard, which takes a lump sum and provides a nursing home benefit, but if not used, provides a death benefit to heirs. A lot of folks prefer that method (if they can come up with the lump sum) since they know that one way or the other, the money will not be wasted...
"As far as LTC goes, I do a little of that too, but tend to focus on stuff like Lincoln's Moneyguard, which takes a lump sum and provides a nursing home benefit, but if not used, provides a death benefit to heirs. A lot of folks prefer that method (if they can come up with the lump sum) since they know that one way or the other, the money will not be wasted..."
We had a wholesaler in here about 2 months ago touting this product.. Interesting... I like the feature that there are no surrender charges if the client wants to withdraw the principal....
Yeah…should have mentioned that also…if you decide you don’t want it, whenever, you can get your $$$ back for whatever reason.
How much of a benefit yrs certain? Unlimited? Can it vary daily or monthly? Do they also cover in home nursing? Adult day care? Is there simple/compound increases?
[quote=mikebutler222]
"I imagine that those who are against annuities due to the high cost and returns may be against LTC. "
Wow, if there's ever been an example of an apples and oranges comparison....
[/quote]
Meh, Annuities are sold to give a guarantee of some sort if annuitized/used for an M&E premium. LTC gives a guarantee of some sort if used for a premium. They are both insurance products one just more straightforward than the other.
IMHO they have more similarities than an annuity vs. MF portfolio
but hey I'm just a simple person trying to increase my knowledge from a website full of professionals
[quote=TimBo]How much of a benefit yrs certain? Unlimited? Can it vary daily or monthly? Do they also cover in home nursing? Adult day care? Is there simple/compound increases?[/quote]
I think it's 2.5% of the death benefit level for 40 months or something like that...I'm not at the office, so I'm not sure of my facts. It doesn't vary or compound. I don't think it covers ADC, but it may cover HHC...
Best bet is to call Lincoln and ask...if I sold more of this, I'd have all the specs memorized...sorry...
Funny thing is I had a older coupe come into my office that just bought 150k of the discussed investments and they “thought” they where getting a 6% return and their principal would remain untouched! WOW!!!
We all know that customers hear what they want to. I had a client say that she requested the 20yr payout instead of 10. Mind you this was only three weeks later. I panicked and pulled her file. She had circled 10yr and wrote it out in her own handwriting. Since she had only one payout the company said they would change if she liked. She apologized. Now I want you to know that this woman was not only happy about the guaranteed payout but her CPA was also. She has him watch what I do with her account and hasn’t been dissapointed.
[quote=TimBo][quote=mikebutler222]
"I imagine that those who are against annuities due to the high cost and returns may be against LTC. "
Wow, if there's ever been an example of an apples and oranges comparison....
[/quote]
Meh, Annuities are sold to give a guarantee of some sort if annuitized/used for an M&E premium. LTC gives a guarantee of some sort if used for a premium. They are both insurance products one just more straightforward than the other.
[/quote]
The difference is it's hard to imagine an older person who won't be in need of LTC benefits at some point in their life. The vast majority will eventually be in a situation where that need is very real. The same can't be said of the "guarantee" in an annuity*.
* there’s no need to review whether the annuity “guarantee” is really needed or the if the buyer is simply harboring an irrational fear. We’ve beaten that horse well past dead.
I’ve own the AXA/Equitable Accumulator since early 2007. I trust my financial advisor but because it’s still so unclear to me I’m hoping some “experts” on here might help. Here’s the story…
I retired at age 56 and put my lump sum retirement benefit into AXA. Why? Because of the 2000 crash and losing 600K I wanted a bit more security. I never understand when brokers say stick with equities for the "long-term" because, they say, it rises an average of 11% per year. I don't understand that because if you owned 1M prior to March of 2000, you'd have to do a heck of a lot better over a LOT of years just to get back to break even. Further, if you're in your late 50's/60's then you might not have any long-term life left. That said... We opted for the AXA accumlator. I never knew much about VA's other than to stay away because sales commissions were far too high. I was surprised when my trusted broker recommended it to me because he knew I was aware of it. He told me that because of our insecurity this was a great product that would guarantee us 6% increase each year and that we'd be able to invest the monies into whaever mutual funds, through AXA, that we wanted. He said AXA makes 2% but that we still get 6% no matter what. For example...if at the end of the first anniversary, the mutual funds performance was up only 2% we'd still get 6% but if they went up 11% we'd get 9%. Seemed like a no-brainer to me. He told us we'd have to keep it in AXA for 6 years (though later told me 7 after we had signed the contract). So...here we are, more than one year into it and the actual value is down about 20% whereas the GMIB is higher. I guess I still don't understand what the GMIB is all about. As I understand it, so long as I don't touch the account until the end of 7 years then it'll be worth the original amount plus the 6% per year. Or will it be worth whatever the "current account value" is even then? If so, it seems that I would be stuck in staying with the annuity to maintain the 6% per year payout I'd need to live. If so, that would be a bad decision I made if, for example, we felt back into a "Jimmy Diddy Carter" era when CD's were shelling out like 13% plus interest. Bottom line...if someone could provide me specific, easy to read/understand, details about this I'd really appreciate it. Did I make the right decision? In retiring at 56 and having to wait for 7 years...was this VA the right thing to do? Yes, I know I can tap into it but it'll only hurt my income 7 years from now. Should I stay with this AXA? I still don't know enough about it to even know what questions to ask. Please offer any oher info. Thanks...[quote=Blitzburgh]I’ve own the AXA/Equitable Accumulator since early 2007. I trust my financial advisor but because it’s still so unclear to me I’m hoping some “experts” on here might help. Here’s the story…
I retired at age 56 and put my lump sum retirement benefit into AXA. Why? Because of the 2000 crash and losing 600K I wanted a bit more security. I never understand when brokers say stick with equities for the "long-term" because, they say, it rises an average of 11% per year. I don't understand that because if you owned 1M prior to March of 2000, you'd have to do a heck of a lot better over a LOT of years just to get back to break even. Further, if you're in your late 50's/60's then you might not have any long-term life left. That said... We opted for the AXA accumlator. I never knew much about VA's other than to stay away because sales commissions were far too high. I was surprised when my trusted broker recommended it to me because he knew I was aware of it. He told me that because of our insecurity this was a great product that would guarantee us 6% increase each year and that we'd be able to invest the monies into whaever mutual funds, through AXA, that we wanted. He said AXA makes 2% but that we still get 6% no matter what. For example...if at the end of the first anniversary, the mutual funds performance was up only 2% we'd still get 6% but if they went up 11% we'd get 9%. Seemed like a no-brainer to me. He told us we'd have to keep it in AXA for 6 years (though later told me 7 after we had signed the contract). So...here we are, more than one year into it and the actual value is down about 20% whereas the GMIB is higher. I guess I still don't understand what the GMIB is all about. As I understand it, so long as I don't touch the account until the end of 7 years then it'll be worth the original amount plus the 6% per year. Or will it be worth whatever the "current account value" is even then? If so, it seems that I would be stuck in staying with the annuity to maintain the 6% per year payout I'd need to live. If so, that would be a bad decision I made if, for example, we felt back into a "Jimmy Diddy Carter" era when CD's were shelling out like 13% plus interest. Bottom line...if someone could provide me specific, easy to read/understand, details about this I'd really appreciate it. Did I make the right decision? In retiring at 56 and having to wait for 7 years...was this VA the right thing to do? Yes, I know I can tap into it but it'll only hurt my income 7 years from now. Should I stay with this AXA? I still don't know enough about it to even know what questions to ask. Please offer any oher info. Thanks...[/quote]This site is for professionals only. You said you trust your advisor? Act like it and ask him what you should do. Good luck.
Humble apologies. I googled for the "pros and cons" of AXA Equitable and it took me here. I didn't see anything that defined this as a "professional only" website so I made my post.
Your responses, however, are very rude. Best wishes to your customers...sounds like they'll need it. Ya think?[quote=Blitzburgh]
Humble apologies. I googled for the “pros and cons” of AXA Equitable and it took me here. I didn’t see anything that defined this as a “professional only” website so I made my post.
Your responses, however, are very rude. Best wishes to your customers...sounds like they'll need it. Ya think?[/quote]My customers are fine. None of them were suckered into putting money into any AXA products.
If we came to your job and asked you to review a competitors work for free, how would you respond? Bottom line, your financial well being is a partnership between you and your FA. Your part is to give your FA ALL pertinent information to your situation. If your having an issue, and you are not telling your FA about it, he can’t fix it or do his job.
Blitzburgh,
Don't feel bad about thinking the GMIB was a guaranteed rate of return on principal. I have talked to dozens of people that were sold these riders on their annuities, and 90% of them didn't realize that this was only a "hypothetical" compounding of your principal for annuitization purposes. Second, 100% of people that were sold this feature didn't realize the annuitization tables they use on the GMIB are far worse than if you were to annuitize on an actual cash lump sum basis. Unfortunately, you were sold snake oil, in my opinion. Here's a couple questions I would ask your "trusted" advisor: 1. What was your compensation for selling me this annuity? (6-7%) 2. What is my TOTAL cost of owning this annuity? (1.4% M&E, approximately 0.6% rider cost, 1% internal fund expense, for a total of 3%+ annual cost) 3. Why would I buy this annuity considering it has so few investment choices? 4. Why did you put me in a product that has a 7 year surrender period when I could have had liquidity in almost every other type of investment? 5. Why did you put my money in an investment primarily designed for tax deferral when my IRA is already tax deferred? You can look at two other current threads that tackle this exact topic if you are looking for more questions to ask your advisor. See if you had any commonality with any of the information given on those two threads. I hope this helps.[quote=rankstocks]
Blitzburgh,
Don't feel bad about thinking the GMIB was a guaranteed rate of return on principal. I have talked to dozens of people that were sold these riders on their annuities, and 90% of them didn't realize that this was only a "hypothetical" compounding of your principal for annuitization purposes. Second, 100% of people that were sold this feature didn't realize the annuitization tables they use on the GMIB are far worse than if you were to annuitize on an actual cash lump sum basis. Unfortunately, you were sold snake oil, in my opinion. Here's a couple questions I would ask your "trusted" advisor: 1. What was your compensation for selling me this annuity? (6-7%) 2. What is my TOTAL cost of owning this annuity? (1.4% M&E, approximately 0.6% rider cost, 1% internal fund expense, for a total of 3%+ annual cost) 3. Why would I buy this annuity considering it has so few investment choices? 4. Why did you put me in a product that has a 7 year surrender period when I could have had liquidity in almost every other type of investment? 5. Why did you put my money in an investment primarily designed for tax deferral when my IRA is already tax deferred? You can look at two other current threads that tackle this exact topic if you are looking for more questions to ask your advisor. See if you had any commonality with any of the information given on those two threads. I hope this helps.[/quote] This was exactly the kind of reply I was seeking...thank you much sir. I am not an expert in this field which is why I posted my request for information. With respect to dealing with just one FA, sorry...I think most financial matters are like a medical "practice". No one's perfect or has the crystal ball which makes the need for second opinions very important. Thank you for yours Rankstocks!Blitz, that’s not a second opinion. That’s a takover pitch from a guy that would rather sell you a 30-year bond that you’ll mistakenly think is much shorter because he keeps telling you that “it’s callable in five years”. It’s done all the time in my market by a couple of Edward Jones reps. One sold a widow, who’s now my client, a 30-year CMO in 1996 for 99.75 and the same day, it priced on her statement below 94. How much do you think HE made on that trade? This kind of hypocracy annoys me. There are plenty of reasons to own an annuity, and in a down market, they provide protections that rankstocks’ pet investments often do not. By all means, ask questions until you understand what you have, but frankly, some of the questions above will only make you look stupid when you ask them.