[00:00:00] Speaker A: Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: Welcome to Retirement yout Way with Amerilife of Central Florida, the show that puts you in control of your financial future. Your hosts, Bradley and Madison Hardin, are a trusted husband and wife team dedicated to helping you design a retirement that fits your lifestyle, your goals, and your vision for the years ahead. From smart income strategies and Social Security planning to protecting your wealth and living life on your own terms, this is the place where financial clarity meets coastal confidence. Whether you're just entering the retirement red zone or already enjoying your golden years, Bradley and Madison are here to guide you every step of the way. This is retirement your way. Let's build the future you deserve.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Hello there and welcome to another edition of Retirement your way. Matt McClure here with you, but I'm just the guy who pushes the buttons and makes the sounds happen and directs a little traffic. That's, that's really my job. The guy who does the heavy lifting each and every time we get together is Bradley Harden with Amerilife in Central Florida. Hey there, Bradley. How's it going?
[00:01:33] Speaker C: I'm doing well, Matt. How are you?
[00:01:34] Speaker A: I'm doing very well. I cannot complain. But even if I could complain, I wouldn't because it wouldn't do any good.
[00:01:41] Speaker C: I agree. Who's listening anyway, right?
[00:01:43] Speaker A: Exactly. Well, you know, speaking of who's listening, thank you for listening to the show out there. Whether you are listening to the podcast and you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, by the way, that is, you know, Apple, Spotify, I heart all the biggies there and some of the little, little ease too. You can subscribe to ret your way just search for the name of the show or whether you're listening to us on the radio in coastal Florida right around the Daytona Beach, Volusia County. We've got, you know, New Smyrna Beach, Ormond beach, all, all the beaches we got, we got all the lovely beaches of the area covered and, and inland as well. You know, that's because that's how radio signals work. But we really appreciate you listening wherever you are listening and as the show goes along we're going to share this throughout the show. But I want you to keep this in mind if anything we talk about today so of piques your interest or kind of lights a fire under you a little bit, saying, oh, look, I need to make sure that I have an income plan for my retirement because that's really what the name of the game is, especially here today on the show. And we'll get to the meat of it here in a second. But I want you to reach out to Bradley and his wife, Madison. They are available via the phone or via the website. So you can go to Plan retirement your way.com, that's Plan retirement your way.com, fill out the form, get a free consultation. It's free of any cost or any obligation whatsoever. Or you can give them a call. 386-320-6406. That's 386-320-6406. All right. So Bradley, I mentioned it a little bit there, but we're going to talk a lot about income today. And as I think one like really useful income tool in retirement especially.
[00:03:31] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely, Matt and I do appreciate the kickoff there and, and kind of getting the show rolling. And I'm, I'm very looking forward to this topic today because I'm sure you listeners out there have heard of the word. You, you may not know what it is or how it works or you may have seen advertisements against it, but we're going to be talking about annuities today. And really we're going to go through the ins, the outs and the fine print because, you know, it's one of the most utilized income planning tools in retirement.
And it's something that you should know and learn and feel comfortable with and understand because like I said, I've seen campaigns and people getting on the web or the TV that says beware of annuities and never, if you're thinking of buying an annuity, call me. And it's just, you know, I, I, I just disagree with that. So, you know, I'm looking forward to explaining a little bit more in detail today, guys, the ins, the outs and the fine print.
And one of the things that we are offering for those folks that are listening is a complimentary annuity checkup. So whether you have one, whether you've heard about them, or whether you simply just want a little bit more information, again, we're going to be providing those complimentary annuity checkups for you.
Now, what we do is when we have people comes in, come in, Matt, you know, I can't tell you how many times somebody brings in an annuity statement and says, I bought this years ago, but I'm not exactly sure what I have, right? So we want to just Create clarity and, and get rid of the confusion on what they are.
Because some people, they don't know what the surrender schedule is. They don't understand how the interest is credited, they don't know if they have an income writer or a death benefit writer or any kind of writers. And, and they aren't sure what fees exist.
So if you're confused again, just reach out 386-320-6406 and we can get the conversation started.
Now, you know, annuities are very common and they're very popular planning tools, but they are often misunderstood.
And my job isn't just to sell annuities, it's to help people understand about the ones that they already own.
So again, 386-320-6406, just give us a call, let's sit down and we can have that discussion and really just educate you on the decision you either already made, about to make or may make in the future.
So the first segment here is going to be, you know, what is an annuity really? What is it? So my objective is to educate and remove some confusion around the topic.
Now today we're going to keep it somewhat simple and really just talk about two different types of annuities that exist.
One is the fixed annuity and one is the fixed indexed annuity.
So starting back with the first one, the fixed annuity, the easiest way for me to be able to make the comparison, Matt, is it's, it works very similarly to a CD that would be issued and given to you, sold to you at the bank.
So fixed annuity. Where it differs though is that it's backed and insured by the insurance company who provide you that contract.
Now similar to a cd, it's going to provide you a guaranteed fixed interest rate for a guaranteed amount of time.
So a CD, you know, you may have 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months. And that's kind of the verbiage that the banking industry uses. Whereas in the annuity and insurance company world they look at their periods as years.
So maybe it's a two year, a three year, four year. You know, we're, we're using years instead of months.
The principal, just like a CD is protected and the, the growth is predictable. So it can't change and will not change during that guarantee period.
So let me give you an example. Let's say that you owned a CD and you had a six month CD and you just kept renewing it four times over, right? So what you've really done is just bought a two year cd. So six months, renewed it for another six months, renewed it for another, renew, renewed it for another. You've done four six month CDs.
And what we often see is that after that six month period you're subject to the new interest rate that's provided by the bank.
Whereas if we know that those funds are okay to be in a contract or kind of, you know, put away for two years, why would we subject ourselves to risk rate, you know, the rate going down over that two year period as opposed to just doing a two year fixed annuity?
Because during that two year period the rate's not going to change. Doesn't matter what the Fed does, doesn't matter what's going on the economy, you are guaranteed that rate for that two year period.
You know, kind of as an example.
So that's the first type is the fixed annuity, which is easily understood and predictable.
Now some differences there is that during the period of time you're with the insurance company, you actually have the ability to pull out funds from the contract and those funds earned interest on a tax deferred basis.
So you're not going to receive a 1099 at the end of the year like you do from the bank CD to owe interest or owe taxes, excuse me, on the interest that, that money accumulated.
So if that's something you're considering, maybe you're in the middle of shopping CDs, give us a call 386-320-6406 and we can shop some of those options or again visit the
[email protected] now the next type, as I mentioned we're going to discuss are indexed annuities.
So those contracts, again they're protected by the insurance company.
The principal that you put into the contract or the annuity is protected from market loss.
Now you tie the interest that you earn in that contract to a market index.
So whether that's The S&P 500, the Dow Jones, again, these are some very common ones and the most, the most popular one to follow is the S&P 500.
Now again, you're not directly invested in the S P 500. However, you do earn interest based on the performance of that index, subject to your caps, your spreads and your participation rates. And we're going to cover those a little bit later.
So again, it's a way to, to, to kind of look at a way to earn interest as opposed to the traditional fixed route of the fixed annuity.
So some common misconceptions are, you know, they're all the same. Well, I can promise you they're not all the same.
They're tied directly to the stock market.
They are not. So in periods where the, the, the index that we choose declines, your principle is safe. You're not going to lose any money.
And they're too complicated. And that's kind of the point of the show. And the point of these consultations is if you feel as though they're too complicated, that just means that they weren't properly explained. And that's our biggest, you know, reason for meeting is let's make this easy. Let's make it easy to understand.
So an annuity can be very simple or very complex, depending on the design, which is why reviewing what you owned matters.
So if you'd like a clear breakdown of your annuity in plain English, call 386-320-6406 or go to the website, plan retirement your way.com and schedule your complimentary annuity checkup.
So, Matt, you know, based on those couple openers there, what opinions or what thoughts do you have on that before we go into segment two?
[00:11:46] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I, I'm so glad that you're doing this because I do feel like there are so many misconceptions out there about annuities because so many people think of annuities as the old school type of annuity contract, which is from years or decades ago, where, you know, you put, you gave the insurance company money, then they started giving it back to you in installments, but then you had to pay a fee for the privilege of getting your money back, and there was basically no growth. And then if you died, then they kept the money. There was no, you know, death benefit or anything like that. So those are kind of the old school annuities. And there are also some different kinds of annuities that still exist that, that we're not kind of going over which people may be thinking of when they say beware of annuities and that kind of thing.
But I would say no, my whole thing is don't beware of annuities. Like, like be, be wary of anyone who says beware of annuities because they either, you know, don't know what types are out there right now, or they're trying to sell you something else that may or may not fit into your plan. And that's really what it is all about, is what fits in your plan. And you operate in a fiduciary capacity. So you have to act in the client's best interest.
[00:13:05] Speaker C: When you work with folks the next segment here is the, the ins, the outs, the fine print, and you know, the ends are going to be referring to the benefits that people may not realize that they have.
So there are annuity contracts that have guaranteed lifetime income riders.
So if, if part of your planning, and we always mention on the show income planning, is let's say you have Social Security and you've got your retirement dollars, but you don't have a pension. Well, an annuity is the only other guaranteed vehicle to replicate a pension payout in the fact that it will pay you that income for as long as you live.
If you're married, that income payment can be passed to your spouse. And if both of you pass away or you pass away, whatever's left of that annuity is going to be payable to the beneficiary that you do choose. So you don't give up the asset. You're not trading the asset for income. You're simply utilizing that vehicle as a way to create predictable income as you navigate through retirement.
Now, you could be on the side of, well, you've got income, you've got pension, and maybe you want to leave a legacy.
So one of the benefits you can add on to the annuity is a guaranteed death benefit rider, which is going to increase the amount of legacy dollars that you create in your plan to be able to pass on to your spouse or your loved ones.
There are some annuities that offer an upfront bonus.
Now, sometimes we utilize that bonus to get people out of an older annuity that may be underperforming, have low rates, have high fees, and maybe you're still within that surrender period. And sometimes we can utilize that bonus to pay back the penalty to, to maybe get an annuity that's more suitable for your needs.
And when it comes to the payouts, we can have it be adjusted by the inflation and we can also continue those payments to your spouse. So those are some of the ends, some of the benefits that people may overlook or they may not know about.
And some of the outs, right? So some of the outs is, yes, you're, you're committing to a contract with an insurance company. And if you cancel that contract early, there is something called a surrender charge or you have a surrender period.
And as long as the person putting the money in the annuity understands that, you know, if I close the annuity, I'm going to pay an early withdrawal penalty. You know, the reason they charge those penalties is so that they can offer you all the benefits that we just talked about a moment ago.
They, they sometimes and often have mark credit limits as far as, well, what if the s P does 20% and I may have a cap of 10%?
Well, the cap or the limitation there is simply because in the down years or the negative years, you're not going to participate in the negative. So there's got to be a little give and take at some point.
And if you withdraw more money than the contract allows, there's a penalty for that.
So again, these are trade offs. So you can't have, you can't always just have the good without having something to talk about as a trade off. So those would be the outs or the limitations.
And then the fine print is going to be what is my cap, what is my participation rate?
And oftentimes when we do these annuity checkups, we shop, well, maybe you bought the contract three, four, five years ago and the rates that are being offered now are far more favorable to you than they were back then.
So that could be a potential reason to, to exchange that annuity for a newer one.
And what are the rider costs that you're paying?
So do you have an income rider? Do you have a death benefit rider? Do you need that writer?
Right. Sometimes these riders are added onto contracts to clients that don't need it. And we sit down and we do the review. We determine, well, you don't need this income or you don't need this, these legacy dollars.
Let's look at maybe a potential option where you're paying less fees and get rid of those unnecessary cost which is dragging down the accumulation of that annuity.
We can clarify what your income base is versus your versus your account value.
Right. So there's, there's things that people, you know, get into with these contracts that they may not understand. Or maybe the person that put you in the contract explained it one time and they didn't do the annual review or the annual reallocation. And you know that that's something we do. Oftentimes I meet people that have annuities that the person never reallocated the money.
So you can change between different indexes, you can choose different fixed accounts and there's, that should be an ongoing service. And sometimes we provide those services to people that I didn't even put the them in the annuity. I simply just want to help them maximize their plan and maximize their retirement.
So sometimes people own something that fits perfectly into their retirement plan. They just don't know how to use it properly.
So you know, in other times they were sold something that doesn't align with their goals anymore and we can help them understand their options.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: Yeah, that's absolutely right. I think that is clarity can lead to so much peace of mind.
And you know, if you have an annuity, if you're listening to the show and you have an annuity right now and you look at a statement or you log into a website like portal for it and you're just kind of confused. It's a little bit overwhelming. You don't know exactly what you've got.
Well, that is exactly why Amerilife offers the annuity checkup and retirement. Your way with Bradley and Madison Hardin, of course, is the, the show that we're doing right now. Amerilife is kind of the, the larger entity that we're affiliated with around here.
But if you want that annuity checkup, I would encourage you to do that. Especially if you have one now and you don't quite know what in the world you've got. 386-320-6406. That's 386-320-6406. You can also go to planretirementyourway.com that's plan retirement your way.com and bring the statement. You can walk through it together with Bradley, his wife Madison, the team there at Amerilife as well. We'll be glad to walk you through. And it really is, you know, such an important thing because, you know, you, as you said a minute ago, Bradley, people might have something that fits into their plan perfectly, but they don't know exactly how to use it. They don't know what features might be good for, for them. They don't quite know which way is up and down or sideways about it because it can be confusing. But what you do is you clarify things for folks. And I think that's very, very powerful right now.
[00:19:54] Speaker C: And I agree. Matt, thanks for, for saying that. And the idea is, is, you know, this, these are complex. Could be a complex contract, could be simple, but it's something that we study. We've been, I've been studying it for, you know, almost 15 years. I've been with the Mar life here locally and Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Flagler County.
And, you know, this is something that we talk about every day. And it's probably not something that you talk about every day. Right. So you may get your annual statement, your quarterly statement, and be a little confused and just kind of put the mail to the side and move on with your day. And I understand that. So that's kind of why we like to have these These consultations and these meetings to help make it easy.
Now, Matt, the last part here is where annuities fit in a retirement plan.
So some, some ways that you can look at it is it's simply a tool to satisfy a job, right? An annuity is not supposed to replace your entire portfolio. It's supposed to be part of the plan.
Right. It's a way to manage risk.
It's a way to create predictable income, and it's also a way to hedge against the longevity risk. And simply put, the longevity risk is living too long, running out of money, becoming, having to become dependent on my children or the government. And if you've built this nest egg, you know what an annuity can do is ride out the longevity risk.
And so those are what they are. And what they are not is a one size fits all solution. So each, each job requires a different set of tools. So every client or every prospect we meet with, that's a different job. And so we utilize different tools to be able to, you know, complete the job. So we don't recommend the same company, the same plan, the same. It's not a blanket statement. It's. And here at AmeriLive, we've got access to the majority of the top rate of cares in the country. And, and we can show you all those options on one screen.
They are not a replacement for diversification and they're not designed to beat aggressive stock portfolios. So I do dinner seminars and again, you may have gotten one of my mailers, and I, I emphasize that in my conversation, is that an annuity is not designed to beat the market.
It's designed to provide a safe place for people to write out some of the risk or write out some of the longevity risk that you may face for living too long.
So, you know, because that's in what we, what we emphasize here in our plan is utilizing the three bucket strategy.
So again, we're not saying put all the money in annuities.
It may be you probably shouldn't have all of your money in individual company stocks and equities, right? That's very risky.
So, you know, the three bucket is you got to have one bucket for protection or short term investments, money you can get to, you need to have a bucket for income. So this bucket is going to provide me stable income throughout retirement. And then you need to have your growth bucket, right? So that growth bucket could be made up of equities, a full stock portfolio.
And our job is to try to identify where, how much should be in each bucket, right? How much income do we need in the income bucket? That's where the annuities fit in. That's where they're going to provide safety, security, and not outliving your funds.
So a properly structured annuity can allow someone to take appropriate risk elsewhere because a portion of their income is protected.
Right. So when you get to that pre retirement retirement, whether you're just started, you're in it, or you're going through retirement, the idea is cash flow.
And so if I know that my income is protected, it's guaranteed, I may be able to take a little bit more risk over in my equity side of more my portfolio to be able to, to keep up with inflation or potentially outpace inflation.
Right. So it's not a one size fits all and it's not a solution for the entire portfolio.
So, you know, we don't recommend annuities blindly. We evaluate whether they serve a purpose for you in your retirement plan.
So if you're approaching retirement wondering whether an annuity belongs in your plan or whether the one you already own still makes sense, give me a call 386-320-6406 or visit planned retirement your way.com to request your complimentary annuity checkup. And again, we always emphasize that phone number that's going to come directly to me, right? To my cell phone. As any person nowadays, that thing is attached to the hip. I can actually see it right now as we're recording.
So you're not going to get a call center, you're not going to get bounced around to some other person. You're going to get me. And if you visit the website, that that inquiry is also going to come directly to me.
Amerilife's not going to take that information and give it to somebody else, Right? This is specific to us and to the program.
So Matt, let's take the last couple minutes here and kind of tie everything together, right? So annuities are very common and they're widely used. However, they are often misunderstood.
Many people own them without fully understanding.
But if you do understand them, then that's going to reduce anxiety and clarity leads to better decisions.
So some, some reflective questions you can ask yourself is do I know my surrender timeline?
Do I understand how my interest is calculated?
Do I know how my income rider works?
Do I know what happens if I pass away?
And does this annuity kind of still align with the goals that I had when I bought it in the goals that I have as I move forward?
You know, and the idea is our goal is simple. We Want to make annuities easy to understand.
[00:26:01] Speaker A: That really is the goal. I mean, even, you know, on the show and when you meet with people one on one, that's just such a powerful thing. And then when you meet with somebody one on one, you can say, okay, let's take a look at what your specific situation is.
Then let's determine if an annuity is right for you and if so, which one. So I would, I would really encourage folks go to plan retirement your way dot com. It's Plan retirement your way dot com. That is the website. You can fill out the form there and request a time to meet with Bradley and Madison Hardin with AmeriLife. 386-320-6406 is the number 386-320-6406. And Bradley, as you said, that comes right to you. Well, it'll ring right on, right on your hip or right in your pocket or wherever. You keep that phone as it's attached to you at all times, right?
[00:26:53] Speaker C: Yeah, no, absolutely. I don't think anybody, you know, if I, that's the first thing I look for when I'm going to leave the house is, oh, I got my phone on me because that phone's going to tell me how to get to my next meeting.
Right. So, again, guys, we do appreciate your time listening to us today. You know, the last thing here, just if, if you're thinking about it, if you're concerned or you're worried or you want to kind of clarify that, that term annuity, let's, let's meet, let's talk. Let's schedule that annuity checkup. We'll go through the ins, the out and the fine print so that way you can move forward with confidence. Thank you, Matt.
[00:27:26] Speaker A: Thank you. And thank you for listening so much to the show. Really do appreciate it. You are the reason that we do this show. So appreciate you listening as well. We'll see you next time for another edition of Retirement your Way.
[00:27:37] Speaker B: Thanks for joining us for Retirement your Way with America Life of Central Florida. Our goal is to bring clarity and confidence to your retirement journey. Remember, Bradley and Madison Hardin are here to help you create a personalized plan for the future you deserve. If you'd like to schedule a no cost, no obligation consultation, give the team a call at 386-320-6406 or visit planretirementyourway.com and don't forget to tune in next week, same time, same place, for more strategies, insights and support to help you live retirement your way. Investment advisory services offer through Brookstone Capital Management, llc, a registered investment advisor. BCM and Amerilife are separate companies but are affiliated through common ownership insurance. Products and services are not offered through BCM but are offered and sold through individually licensed and appointed agents not affiliated with the United States Government. Bradley and Madison Hardin do not offer casualties, tax or legal advice. Consult with your tax advisor or attorney regarding specific situations. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. These opinions are not intended to predict future performance of any product. All information provided is believed to be from reliable sources. However, we make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of any statement. This information is intended to be educational in nature and does not provide a guarantee or specific result. All copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Amerilife assumes no responsibility or liability for the content of this message. The information contained herein is provided on an as is basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness, timeliness, or the results obtained from the use of this information.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: Fixed annuities, including multi year guaranteed rate annuities, are not designed for short term investments and may be subject to restrictions, fees and surrender charges as described in the annuity contract. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims paying ability of the issuer. Any bonuses mentioned may be subject to additional restrictions and regulations based on the offering annuity company. You may not receive the bonuses if the contract is fully surrendered or if traditional annuitization payments are taken. And if the policy is partially surrendered, it could result in a partial loss of bonuses. Because these are bonus annuities, they may include higher surrender charges, longer surrender charge periods, lower caps, higher spreads or other restrictions that are not included in similar annuities that don't offer a bonus feature.
