All good stuff. Love the simulation and visualization.

Mine are maturing but I'm still getting 4.10% to 4.25% so I'm reinvesting in CDs through next December. When next December rolls around then I'll have to think hard about what to do with the money. I plan to invest the interest in equities but the principle - won't know until 12/2025. I do have a thirteen month flexible 4% Goldman Sachs CD. That one may be closed, without penalty.

So wait if I sold a elite 10 you mean it’s done after 10 years? It won’t last rest of their life ? What would they do with it after the 10 years. I’m confused.

"There are no deals in the insurance industry; everything is based on Math." Would you please help me by giving me the exact Math which you did to get the two figures, $10,871 and $17,500, respectively? ("starting income at age 75" at 12:00, "The Allianz 222 Annuity Reviewed", kzbin.info/www/bejne/homXfYFqibp6j5I ) I'd really appreciate your help.

This was a super clear breakdown of annuities-finally making sense of where they fit in! It’s wild how they mix insurance and investment. I’m also exploring ways to get some stability in my retirement, and crypto IRAs are actually kinda interesting. I’m using My Digital Money for it-it’s like a new way to diversify. Anyone else tried it?

Such a great discussion on the psychological benefits of guaranteed income! Makes total sense why having that safety net encourages spending more confidently. I’ve been looking into different options for long-term financial security myself, and I recently stumbled across My Digital Money to explore crypto as part of my retirement strategy. Anyone else thinking about adding crypto for diversification?

Marty This info is exactly what I have been searching for. I have been to many presentations, annuities and others, and you have been the first to really come across on what spend down in retirement is all about. Everyone else is focused on either growth or protection but not declumalation of assets for retirement at the greatest advantage of the retiree. Thanks again for this info and your podcast. I will be talking to you soon David Sedillo

Finally, an honest Annuity salesperson on fixed index annuities Thank you so very much I am a subscriber now, and I can’t wait to listen to all your other podcasts I appreciate it thank you

I have looked at the new heights 9 with 30 percent and 8 percent rollup but the level leaves nothing after 11 years?

The bonus or fugazy money can be helpful for people like me over 65. Cuz it goes for a payout amount. Thats why a bonus is good. It makes my 300k a 390k payout. At a defered rate of 8 percent. Compound rate. Not for growth for payout. For life. If your young. STAY AWAY FROM ANNUITY PERIOD.

I’ll take the risk over the guarantees of an annuity any day of the year because I already have the best annuity of them all with built in COLAs and all (SS) and that provides my income base. Meanwhile I’ve been generating $30K in annual income with $500K invested just on dividends and interest alone. I see no reason for any guarantees, and as they say, no risk, no reward.

Another valuable educational video

Bengams rule included adding in inflation every year. If you use the average inflation of 2.4% over the last 30 years then per Bungan's rule over 30 years you would actually receive $900,000 not $400,000. This video is very misleading in this aspect. Seems like it would be more realistic to compare using the 4% rule with inflation added every year versus using the $500K to buy a lifetime guaranteed annuity which using the information from this video $500k would buy a $37,500/year annuity guaranteed for life. Over 30 years the retiree would receive $1,125,000 Vs the anticipated $900K if using the 4% rule. Also annuities are guaranteed by the insurance company but not the US GOVT., there is a possibility that they can go bankrupt. Interesting also is that if you start with a 5% withdrawal rate which is what Bengen considered to be safe and more realistic, over 30 years the withdrawals of 5% a year escalated at 2.5% inflation a year would result in an average of $37,500/year over the 30 year time frame. The same number as the annuity which was purchased for $500K. The point is don't forget about how inflation will impact your expenses with a fixed income that is not matched to inflation over 30 yrs or more

Is equitrust a great choice for fia like market 7?

Great info Marty

Looks like I am the first one to view. Keep up the good work.

Very nice presentation Marty, you touch on a lot of the soft issues facing first time buyers.

Also, would love to see more details on the math used for the two illustrations. I'm able to recreate your payout amount for annuity #1 ($64,968) with the compounding rate, but I get a different result for annuity #2 than you do ($62,620 vs. yours at $54,540). I'm sure I'm making a mistake but can't find it. I love your series and it is truly helping me understand these products - thank you!

Question on the first illustration starting about 4:30: is the simple interest during deferral based on the base funding amount alone, or would it include the bonus from the start? If it included the bonus, then I think the annual amount would be increasing by $11,000 per year.

Social Security mismanaged? Insolvent? You mean shortfall The problem with Social Security is the voting public

In all fairness to the Podcaster, I object to the unnecessary, personal attack that "the podcaster is misleading is not telling the whole story." The podcaster is merely pointing out some issues that support his opinion. Podcast certainly is not intended to be an all inclusive treatise differentiating competing products. I am always amazed that Annuity companies collect client premiums, invest client's funds for years and only trickle a miserly payout all while charging additional Rider Fees that eventually absorb the client's principal balance all while holding client's investment under threat of 10% penalty should you wish to terminate the annuity once customer figures out only the Company is making money. YOU CAN FOOL SOME OF THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME. & ALL OF THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME.

Did the nerd math factor in when you withdraw? It looks like it is focused on withdrawing at the exact moment the market calculates its average for the year. Most people aren't going to be withdrawing lump sums at the peak. There is a risk factor that they withdraw during a dip in each year. And that would be devastating.

Thank you. I enjoyed your video. I also forwarded it to the young gentleman who called in to the Ramsey show, who has his own KZbin channel dealing with finance issues: "Hope Filled Financial Coaching." I was interested in your mortgage example from 20:00 to 24:00. So, I built a nerd spreadsheet to analyze a specific scenario. Let me share the numbers (which tell the same story as yours, but have some interesting details). If you see any numerical errors in my analysis let me know. I also have one possible answer to your "why would I pay it off early?" question. Assume you are 30 (like the caller). Assume a 6% APR mortgage, and a borrowing of $166,792 for 30 years. That gives a level repayment of $1,000 per month. (Yes, that does not buy much of a house). I assumed I had $1,250 per month ready to invest on top of this (that's $15,000 per year). I assumed I could get a steady 1% per month in some index fund (i.e., 12% per annum). *Scenario* *1:* Pay the mortgage off over 30 years, until age 60. Invest $1,250 per month in the index fund from age 30 to 60. Then invest $1,000 +$1,250 per month until age 65. Final wealth at age 65: 1 house + $8.04 million. *Scenario* *2:* Pay the mortgage off early by sending $833.33 per month ($10,000 per year) to the bank until the mortgage is paid off. Invest $1,250 (less $833.33) per month in the index fund from age 30 until the mortgage is paid off. The $833.33 extra towards the principal is more than the principal owing for the first 103 months. I know that making a double principal payment knocks one month of a mortgage's life. So, $833.33 each month will knock more than one month off the mortgage's life. I end up paying off the mortgage in full after 122 months (i.e., after 10 years and 2 months; aged 40 and two months). Then invest $1,250 + $1000 per month from age 40 and two months until age 65. Final wealth at age 65: 1 house + $6.06 million. That is, you are $2 million (and change) worse off, by paying the house off early. My numbers are comparable to your numbers. I found it interesting that I pay the house off after only 10 years (and two months) using your numbers, not 20 years. It's a slightly different story from the one you gave, but it's really interesting to find that even the 25-odd years until age 65 is not enough time to catch up with the balance in the index fund. *Bottom* *line:* Those first 10 years of market investment are very important! So, given that it costs you two million dollars at age 65, why pay off the mortgage early? Here is my take on the situation. Half of all workers end up retiring early, for reasons beyond their control (these are consistent annual survey findings from Employee Benefits Research Institute [EBRI]). The most common reasons are that the worker's health fails, they lose a job and cannot get re-hired (partly because of ageism), or their spouse's health fails (and they quit to look after the spouse). Having your house paid off early in this scenario is a form of *insurance*. If you assume nothing bad happens, then insurance always looks like a bad deal. If you allow for risk, however, then the insurance may be worthwhile. If you thought there was a 50% chance of your house burning down, you'd likely pay quite a lot for house fire insurance. If you knew there was a 50% chance of losing your income stream, you might be prepared to give up on some potential future wealth by paying off the house early, to secure your home. Also, I think Ramsey said something like "Do this and you will end up wealthy." To be fair, that's true in both scenarios. Thoughts, feedback, criticism, etc. welcome.

Allianz 222 is a terrible investment. Highly illiquid with few investment options that are in place for one year not changeable during that time. The “bonus” is bs. You will never see it. Never. Allianz will manipulate the payout and earnings . I cannot easily list all that’s wrong but Stay away!!! You are far far better off investing in a low cost etf that will grow your money. This only benefits Allianz and the salesman. Financial planners don’t recommend this product only salesmen do. Non guaranteed. 150% indexing credit is still minimal. This is a bunch of bull. Just stay away and stay away from anyone recommending it to you. They make a commission of over7% immediately and each year held while you can make 0.

I think it’s unrealistic to expect them to spend the same amount of money throughout their retirement. I’m sure you’ve heard of the spending smile and also the gogo go slow go no go years. I think that needs to be factored in, but maybe you’re just taking the most extremesituation but realistically, I don’t think there was bad office. You make them sound.

I Purchased two Allianz annuities five years ago at one of those ridiculous seminars. I didn’t know any better and believed what i heard that this was the best thing since ice cream. The same advisor that sold me the Allianz 5 years ago is now recommending that I transfer out into another annuity company which would cost me a 5 percent surrender charge, along with the 20% bonus I received at the time ,who do you think this is really benefiting. Do yourself a favor and go with an advisor that sells all annuities not just one for their own benefit a couple years down the road to look to turn you out so they can make another commission, keep an eye open New Jersey

Hi Marty, Great insights as usual. How does this strategy work if the couple wanted to wait 10 years before beginning withdrawals? The couple in the illustration begin $10K/yr immediately. The 222 monthly is lower than other products. I think they bake the Multiplier into their baseline creating a lower monthly.

The video is great, but the part the podcaster is misleading people is not telling the whole story. Nationwide New Heights Select FIA does provide choice to clients for with and without charge options. Also, New Heights Select is not only income product. Illustration is always based on the prior years returns. Based on the age, most people need not go with Income product, and can choose index which do not have any charges (ZERO charges). The main important part is to have the downward market protection, and upward market participation, with and without charges (customer's option. Also, podcaster does not compare it with real alternate examples with guaranteed income, just shows the numbers. It's purely a trick to make people afraid by misleading the facts. I do not have anything against other companies and their products, as we offer from at least 20 different companies. At the end of the day, we need to establish the suitability and affordability by age group, and then we can derive at which company and which product will suit the customer needs. So, my vote is a BIG NO for this podcaster.

Nationwide New Heights JPMORGAN MOZAIC II STRAT B 6 years 1.89% last 3 years ZERO% Fidelity last 3 years 13% Nationwide NYSE ZEBRA EDGE STRAT B Last 6 years 3.47% last 3 years .5% Fidelity 13% last 3 years. Those are real Annuity numbers. Now my options are to leave it and ride it down like the Titanic for another 6 years. Pull it out and take the surrender charges. Which then I will be below what I put into it in the first place. Take out 7% and roll it into an IRA to actually make money. (that should have been made with the annuity) Or and this is the best (sarcastically) Cancel them take the money with surrender charges. Take that money and buy another annuity (Allianz) and get a 160% "bonus" (which should make up what I lost in surrender charges LOL) then hope and pray for another 10 years (4 more years than my first contract) to see if this all works out. From my vantage point the only persons money who is "safe" in an annuity is the Insurance companies.

LIKED YOUR ANALOGIES 👍 THANKS

Great video. But I disagree that Fisher doesn’t fully understand annuities; I’m confident he does. He just wants your money for his firm to make their money, and he’ll do whatever he can to steer you away from these “insurance products”. I actually read this same article some months ago and immediately flagged it as disingenuous BS, so I ignored all the subsequent calls from his minions. About 20% of my portfolio is held in 2 annuities. One is a former variable annuity that I annuitized for 5-years certain and provides bridge income until I reach FRA. At the end of the term all principal and interest will have been exhausted, but I was fine with that because it’s paying me $3,500 per month gross for 60 months, and as an early retiree (retired at 58) I need that income to supplement other passive income while I still have a dependent family. That was its intended purpose. The other annuity was a variable that I actually rolled over into an IRA and then invested into a CD at 5.6% for 18 months. At maturation I’m thinking of taking this qualified money and buying a MYGA which works pretty similarly to a CD but can actually earn higher interest return. At some point I’m also thinking of setting up an income rider for future income and simultaneous capital preservation. I couldn’t agree with you more that annuities serve an excellent purpose as long as they are balanced with a stock and bonds portfolio, which is exactly the scenario I have created. It’s also worth adding that many annuities have no fees (MYGAS for example) and, as you say, are straightforward contractual agreements. Moreover, in my research I have determined that the more straightforward and simple the annuity, the lower the commission to the broker… who obviously needs to earn a living too!, but the commission comes from the insurer, not from your capital. The bottom line is that Fisher is a dishonest operator with a loaded agenda at his command (and Lord knows plenty of expensive advertising),and the only way to cut through his BS is by educating yourself. I dare say your video goes a long way to doing so in this specific point and I will be recommending it to all my buddies in our investment club. Great work! And new subscriber BTW.

I am half in the markets and half in a 5yr myga and a spia for monthly income

Sounds like this will work until you have 3 years of zero returns. Then what?

😮 Interesting info. Thx

I would like your guide please!

Ok on your site it has the episodes numbered

Can you please put the episode # in the title?

I have this product...don't be like me. Don't get this product.

A 7.98% payout rate seems way too high for a 65-year old couple joint immediate annuity. The highest payout I could find quoted for that was 6.77%, and a top rated company like USAA is only paying 6.24%.

Great video, finally found a person who has got some real answers and knowledge on the annuity confusion debate. This is why we need Marty to set the information straight and cut thru the fine print on some of these contracts that many of us unknowingly signed in the past.

Thank you, Marty, although the slides did not show on the screen. I still learned a lot, and just in time for an agent to call me in the next day or so to go over his offered illustration. I hope for the best and maybe he will plan for the worst. Perhaps if I can I'll meet up with you for another comparison.

Wasn’t able to see the slides🤷🏻‍♀️

Two thirds of my retirement funds were put into annuities because I wanted my funds to be “safe”. I knew nothing about annuities and my advisor kept telling me I would be fine. I came across Atlas while searching for information to understanding my situation. I made an appointment with Marty and it was the best 30 min i spent in understanding my situation! Marty is knowledgeable, explains things in easy to understand terms. He didn’t try to sell me something that I didn’t need and didn’t promise me a fix all situation to my problem. He is a man of integrity. You will probably say how can you tell that in a 30 min conversation. Call him for a discussion and you will see what I mean. I am going to recommend him to my adult children, family and friends. Thank you Marty for putting me at ease and helping me know that I will be ok.

Ahhh, yes, you say it so correctly "Your financial education" I sat down today with my financial advisor and he pitched a 20 year guaranteed annuity with life insurance policy in the event I'd pass that the funds would continue to pay to a beneficiary for the term. I need more education before intending to sign on the dotted line!

I don't purchase bank CD's. However I do have a 5 CD ladder from Brokerage accounts that are Non-Callable and have much higher interest rates. I also have two 5 year fixed annuities that never lose principal. So that's nice too.

Ken Fisher is many more insights than you do. Rather than purchase an annuity the Vanguard Wellsley fund would pay more than an annuity.

Promo`SM 😈

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:03 📊 *Four key indicators of retirement planning:* - Net worth - Withdrawal rate (considered high at 4%) - Reliability of income (drops if withdrawal rate exceeds 3%) - Discretionary liquid assets (important for flexibility) 03:57 💰 *Misconception: Annuities don't lock up all your money; it's about strategy.* 05:07 🔒 *Example: Atlas annuity strategy frees up assets for other investments while providing necessary income.* 06:38 📈 *Reliability of income is better with annuities; without them, it drops.* 07:51 💵 *Discretionary liquid assets: Atlas annuity strategy offers more liquidity, enhancing flexibility.* 09:00 📈 *Annuities allow for more aggressive portfolio allocations without risking income.* 11:02 ⚖️ *Atlas annuity strategy improves outcomes even in a worst-case scenario.* 12:00 🧠 *Retirement planning is about common-sense math, not magic; you can take control with confidence.*