ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Plan Retirement Investments With Care
Avoid Deferred Annuities With Steep Surrender Charges and Certain Types of Life Insurance
The closer you get to retiring the more you try and save for the future. While saving as much as you can is important, where you put those savings is equally important. Insurance agents, stockbrokers, financial advisors and retirement planners push annuities and life insurance as good retirement savings vehicles. Don’t buy it. The Contra Costa annuity, securities fraud and financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent[1] individuals who have lost retirement savings in annuities, life insurance, and other unsuitable investments. Most of the victims are seniors. If an agent or broker has sold you an inappropriate product such as life insurance or an annuity or you are the victim of securities fraud and you’re over 60, call us today at (415441-8669 and we can help.
Your hard-earned savings are yours. Don’t buy into commission-driven products like life insurance and deferred annuities that line other people’s pockets and leave you holding the bag. Avoid high-pressure sales seminars and promises of guarantees too good to be true – they always are. Here are some tips we recently came across that you should keep in mind as you save for retirement:
- Pay off big debts.
- Save from every paycheck.
- Start early.
- Don’t withdraw from your 401(k).
- Review your plan and stock portfolio periodically.
- Avoid risky investments.
- Allocate your assets appropriately.
- Consult a qualified professional who does not stand to earn from your purchases.
- Determine your goal and stick to it.
- AVOID ANNUITIES.
Our litigation practice teaches us how true this final bit of advice is. Annuities and life insurance are expensive, pay big upfront commissions, and may disappoint once the policies – and annual charges and actual returns – kick in. Direct market returns through tax-deferred IRAs and 401(k)s historically outpace returns on annuities and are much less complex. Also working for you is your Social Security benefit which is an inflation-adjusted creditworthy annuity far superior to anything offered in the marketplace. Keep in mind that annuities tie up your money for long periods of time and you will pay a surrender penalty to get your money back. There are lots of other ways to benefit from tax deferred savings without tying up your money in an expensive annuity. If you are considering an annuity, always consult your tax advisor and an investment professional with nothing to gain from a sale.
Contact Us
If you are over 60 and live in Contra Costa County or elsewhere in California and have been sold an inappropriate or unsuitable investment product or suffered loss as the result of securities fraud or on an annuity or life insurance surrender or replacement, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other annuity and financial elder abuse attorneys at the Evans Law Firm for a free review of your policy at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with complex indexed universal and whole life policies and annuity contracts and cases against large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
Annuities and life insurance produce large sales commissions for brokers but are often inappropriate products for consumers, especially seniors. Leading providers and distributors of life insurance and fixed, variable and fixed indexed deferred annuities in California are listed below. We are not in any way suggesting that any of these carriers or distributors has done anything wrong. Rather, the list is provided solely as a reference for our readers.
AIG/American General Life Insurance Company
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America
American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company
American General Life Insurance Company/AIG
American National Life Insurance Company
Ameriprise Financial/RiverSource Life Insurance Company
Ameriprise Financial/Securities America, Inc.
Athene Annuity & life Assurance Company
Athene Annuity and Life Company
Athene USA
Aviva Life Insurance Company
AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company/AXA US
Bankers Life Insurance and Casualty Company
Brighthouse Financial, Inc./MetLife
Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.
Crump Life Insurance Services, Inc.
CUNA Mutual Group/CMFG Life Insurance Company
EquiTrust Life Insurance Company
Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company
Forethought Life Insurance Company/Global Atlantic Financial Group
Genworth Life Insurance Company
Global Atlantic Financial Group/Forethought Life Insurance Company
Guardian Life Insurance Company
Guggenheim Partners/Security Benefit Life Insurance Company
ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company
Jackson National Life Insurance Company
John Hancock Life Insurance Company
Lincoln Benefit Life Company
Lincoln Financial Group
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
Merrill Lynch Life Agency Inc.
Metlife/Metropolitan Life Insurance Company/Brighthouse Financial, Inc.
National Western Life Insurance Company
Nationwide Life Insurance Company
New York Life Insurance Company
North American Company for Life and Health Insurance
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
Oxford Life Insurance Company
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Principal Financial Group
Prudential Life Insurance Company
Raymond James Insurance Group
RiverSource Life Insurance Company/Ameriprise Financial
Securities America, Inc./Ameriprise Financial
Security Benefit Life Insurance Company/Guggenheim Partners
Symetra Life Insurance Company
Transamerica Life Insurance Company
Unum Life Insurance Company of America
Voya/Reliastar Life Insurance Company
Wells Fargo Advisors
World Financial Group Insurance Agency, Inc.
[1] While we do not provide tax or investment advice at Evans Law Firm, we do represent consumers who have suffered losses from fraud, inappropriate investments sold to them by agents and brokers, and other misconduct.
