A reader left me the following comment last week:
"I do not trust any financial advisor anymore after losing so much money in an annuity. There is not enough out there about annuities which so many of us have and are losing in. There is NOT enough info out there about investing in things that are tied to the stock market like annuities. That is a horrible thing that locks us in and we cannot move our money. Annuities are so complex and hard to understand...Shame on advisors on the net that do not have enough info about annuities.
This reader’s comments inspired me to add to my article Should You Buy An Annuity and expand upon the information. There are five questions you should ask before buying an annuity. They are:
If this investor purchased a variable annuity, it is delivered with a prospectus–did he read it? If not, then whose fault might it be that he did not understand the terms? If he bought a fixed annuity, then he cannot lose money as the principal is guaranteed. Might it be time for investors to start being responsible for their own stupid decisions rather than blame somehting or someone else?
Haha… this reader must be very disappointed with unethical financial advisor. But what I can say is, there are still lot of honest advisor out there. Do not give up though. Find the right one.