Are annuities being overhyped?

This question was asked in a recent Wall Street Journal article authored by writers Anne Turgesen and Leslie Scism, with the theme being that the recent news of promotion of annuities by the Obama administration is turning into marketing bonanza for life insurance agents  that could harm some investors.

A link to the full WSJ article is available by clicking here.

While I feel the headline was a little extreme, the premise of their story is dead on. That being that a rush to move people into fixed rate, immediate income annuities at the current historically low rates is going to hurt a lot of people long term when rates and inflation inevitably rise over the next 3 to 7 years.

In this weeks edition of Speaking of Settlements, I discuss this dilemma, which is faced by structured settlement experts such as myself on a daily basis. We all know that current interest rates are historically very low and will certainly go up over the next few years, but investors, savers or injury victims need to make decisions TODAY on whether or not immediate annuity income makes sense for them right now.

This will be part of a recurring series of conversations I will be having on the ideas and strategies for those looking to use annuities to fund or finance retirement, care plans, settlement plans and other conservative income strategies using insurance company products.