Bryan Anderson, founder of Annuity Straight Talk, speaks with Ashok Ramji, a financial consultant with TOP Planning LLC, an independent asset protection and retirement income planning firm serving retirees and pre-retirees alike. In this episode, our hosts weigh in on a case study involving fixed deferred annuities with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GWLB).

Ashok opens the show with a short introduction about Mary who is a client of his. She has income from a bunch of sources, but she wanted to get away from market volatility and replace her bond funds with another income-producing asset. He and Brian talk a bit about bond funds before diving into the top 4 contracts with GWLBs in the state of Washington.

They discuss how much cumulative income Mary could have after 10 years, pointing out the pros and cons of contracts with GWLB rider fees compared to those with none. Brian and Ashok also bring up other things for people to consider like residual value and how much control you want to have over the asset.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

[02:35] An overview of Mary’s case

[06:46] A comparison of the 4 fixed deferred annuities with the highest payouts

[09:42] What Mary’s cumulative income would have looked like after 10 years

[11:35] Contracts that offer higher payouts have fees that go along with it

[12:07] The advantages of the Midland contract (which has a slightly lower payout)

[14:55] About residual value and the option for increasing annuity income

[17:00] On AST’s 360 approach

[18:45] What listeners can expect from the next episodes

Key quotes:

“You are getting the benefit of seeing all the options on the table.” ~Ashok

“The [contract] without fees is going to be quite a bit higher than anything else.” ~Bryan 

“The highest annuity payout is not always the one that people choose. And some people take a lower payout because they were not presented with a better option, and some people choose it for a specific reason.” ~Bryan

Call Annuity Straight Talk at 800-438-5121 or schedule a call at AnnuityStraightTalk.com