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Truth About Buying Annuities, The

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Truth About Buying Annuities, The

EPUB (Watermarked)

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Description

  • Copyright 2009
  • Edition: 1st
  • EPUB (Watermarked)
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-270116-2
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-270116-7

Annuities have become one of the most popular ways to save for retirement and also one of the most misunderstood, overhyped, and dangerous investment vehicles available today. Some annuities are worth the money... but too many are flawed, overpriced, and packed with hidden fees that make them absolutely horrible investments. In The Truth About Buying Annuities, consumer finance expert Steven Weisman helps you make smart decisions about annuities and avoid the lies, misrepresentations, and ripoffs that await uninformed investors. From start to finish, Weisman delivers quick, bite-size, just-the-facts information and plain-English explanations you can actually use. You'll learn all you need to know about immediate, deferred, and variable annuities; actively-managed vs. indexed annuities; inflation-protected and tax-sheltered annuities; and more. Weisman explains the impact of annuities on taxes, Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care, and your other retirement plans. He presents crucial, hard-to-find information about death benefits, joint and survivor annuities, alternatives to annuities, assessing annuity risk, avoiding scams, and even how to escape from a bad annuity you've already purchased. Unlike some books on annuities, this one's simple to read, simple to use, up-to-date, and complete: it's the only annuity guide you need!

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Introduction v

Truth 1          The history of annuities 1

Truth 2          Immediate annuities 5

Truth 3          Fixed rates 9

Truth 4          Deferred annuities 13

Truth 5          Annuity fees 17

Truth 6          Variable annuities 21

Truth 7          Variable annuity investment choices 25

Truth 8          Actively managing variable annuity sub-accounts 29

Truth 9          Indexed annuities 33

Truth 10        More about indexed annuities 37

Truth 11        Calculating index changes 41

Truth 12        Inflation protected annuities 45

Truth 13        Tax-sheltered annuities 49

Truth 14        Annuity settlement options 53

Truth 15        Tax deferral 57

Truth 16        Annuity risk 61

Truth 17        Annuity death benefits 66

Truth 18        Annuities and income taxes 69

Truth 19        Tax-free 1035 exchanges 73

Truth 20        Charitable gift annuities 77

Truth 21        Split annuities 81

Truth 22        Joint and survivor annuities 85

Truth 23        Shorter surrender annuities 89

Truth 24        Longevity insurance 93

Truth 25        Inheriting an annuity 97

Truth 26        Variable Annuities versus variable universal life insurance 101

Truth 27        Choosing between mutual funds and an annuity 105

Truth 28        Annuities and asset allocation 109

Truth 29        Asset allocation and laddering annuities 113

Truth 30        Minimum required distributions 117

Truth 31        59 ½ 121

Truth 32        Annuities in IRAs 125

Truth 33        Annuities and 401(k)s 129

Truth 34        More about annuities, IRAs, and 401(k)s 133

Truth 35        Annuities for children 137

Truth 36        Bonus credits 141

Truth 37        The Pension Protection Act, annuities, and long-term care 145

Truth 38        Annuities and Medicaid 149

Truth 39        Annuities and reverse mortgages 153

Truth 40        State Guaranty laws 157

Truth 41        Annuities and creditor protection 161

Truth 42        Getting out of an annuity 165

Truth 43        Annuity scams and senior citizens 169

Truth 44        Annuities and class actions 173

Truth 45        Prospectuses and annuities 177

Truth 46        Free looks 181

Truth 47        For whom annuities are best 185

Truth 48        Steve’s annuity rules part one 189

Truth 49        Steve’s annuity rules part two 193

Truth 50        Where to go for Information 197

About the Author 201

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