Category: Annuities Fraud

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Long Term Care Insurance Benefits Denied: What, Why, and How to Fix It Background Knowledge of Long Term Care Insurance Long term care insurance, in essence, is there to, unsurprisingly: take care of you long term. The basis behind the insurance is you purchase it, pay your premiums, […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Brokers Move from Variable to Indexed Annuities Why the Variable Annuity is in Decline 2016 has been a rough year for many people, not least for sellers of variable annuities. Regulatory oversight, the new Department of Labor fiduciary rule, and market factors have led to a year that […]

Variable annuities are often marketed as a good investment product because they are supposed to provide an opportunity to invest, as well as tax advantages and a death benefit which gives beneficiaries at least as much as was paid in.  Unfortunately, many people who buy variable annuities discover that the […]

In 2014, total annuity sales in the United States reached $235.8 billion. Variable annuity sales accounted for more than half of total sales, with sales of variable annuities bringing in $140.1 billion.

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The New Landscape of Fee-Based Annuities As the Department of Labor’s new rule comes into effect, requiring insurance and annuity salespeople to act as fiduciaries, financial companies are scrambling to adapt. One way that some companies are trying to deal with this change is to find a loophole […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Prudential, Jackson National, and the future of the annuity As the Department of Labor requires more insurance brokers to act as fiduciaries, and as FINRA continues its investigation into variable annuities, it’s clear that the increased scrutiny is having a bit of a shriveling effect on the market […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER The Avlue and Drawbacks of Indexed Annuities As the Department of Labor’s more stringent annuity rules go into effect, major sellers of both fixed and variable annuities are having to compensate and adjust both their sales tactics and the contents of their policies. While a number of sellers […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER Reviewing the Variable Annuity Annuities are financial products that are often fraught with complications, miscommunications, and disappointment for policyholders. When seniors or retirees initially buy the product, they are generally expecting that the annuity will be both a sound investment and a means of providing stress-free guaranteed income […]

ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER FINRA levies $25 Million Fine Against Metlife FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, recently brought down the hammer on Metlife, in the form of the second largest penalty in the history of the agency. Although Metlife did not admit to wrongdoing in the settlement, the core of FINRAs […]

Re-Inventing the Wheel: traditional vs ‘Modern’ Annuities Annuities have been marketed to seniors as an essential retirement product for decades, and it’s easy to see why: put your lump sum in up front, and received guaranteed income, with interest, for the rest of your days. This is marketing pitch, and […]