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The Velvet Voicebox
posted
Was reading ZSMICHAEL'S thread on asset mix for person in late sixties thread. Didn't want to do a thread drift on his thread. Had been planning on getting forum opinion about retirement and years after.
Retiring within 6 months after 31 years at the big V. Moving back to the midwest from VA. Have met with 2 financial planners, done a lot of research, What do you guys think about annuities? Tech stocks have been pushed to me as well as doublesharp's unloved like Kroger, Ford GE, etc. Advised to stay away from bonds, will not start SS until 66. Bottom line, looking for continued income with a low risk, conservative mixed portfolio.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cliff,



"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

--Sir Winston Churchill

"The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose."

--James Earl Jones



 
Posts: 7652 | Location: KCMO | Registered: August 31, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Don't go, we need you here to hold off the commies in the elections!
 
Posts: 13735 | Location: Shenandoah Valley, VA | Registered: October 16, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I personally don't like annuities, although I do have one that does pretty well. I would stay involved, but pay an adviser to maximize your income, maintain a little growth if possible, and maximize your security. Your two main objectives sound like security and income, in that order. Tell him that, see what he proposes. That proposal can then be critiqued, by this group or another.
 
Posts: 17121 | Location: Lexington, KY | Registered: October 15, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Velvet Voicebox
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quote:
Originally posted by Leemur:
Don't go, we need you here to hold off the commies in the elections!


Believe me, I'm trying to do my part, but Prince William county seems to be turning into a liberal shit hole more and more.



"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

--Sir Winston Churchill

"The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose."

--James Earl Jones



 
Posts: 7652 | Location: KCMO | Registered: August 31, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Why would you want to move back to the midwest? The weather sucks and the highways are beat up beyond belief.

When I retire I'm thinking either Lexington, VA area or Bristol, TN area. Bristol has a big plus in that there are no income taxes for retirees and land in the area is relatively cheap. Another plus is it's about halfway between Lexington, VA and Charlotte where all my family is now living. Another plus is I could finally see the race in Bristol from the stands.

Draw for Lexington is it's beautiful and my sister and her husband live there, downside is land isn't particularly cheap and no nearby lakes for water skiing or public rifle ranges.


I've stopped counting.
 
Posts: 5621 | Location: Michigan | Registered: November 07, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Velvet Voicebox
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quote:
Originally posted by Fredward:
I personally don't like annuities, although I do have one that does pretty well. I would stay involved, but pay an adviser to maximize your income, maintain a little growth if possible, and maximize your security. Your two main objectives sound like security and income, in that order. Tell him that, see what he proposes. That proposal can then be critiqued, by this group or another.


The second advisor I talked to bought up the same things as you. Security & income. There are a LOT of low cost annuities available now. Waiting on him to get back with me with some proposals on that and other items. Meeting with another FA soon.

Quote:Why would you want to move back to the midwest? The weather sucks and the highways are beat up beyond belief.

When I retire I'm thinking either Lexington, VA area or Bristol, TN area. Bristol has a big plus in that there are no income taxes for retirees and land in the area is relatively cheap. Another plus is it's about halfway between Lexington, VA and Charlotte where all my family is now living. Another plus is I could finally see the race in Bristol from the stands.

Draw for Lexington is it's beautiful and my sister and her husband live there, downside is land isn't particularly cheap and no nearby lakes for water skiing or public rifle ranges.

I've stopped counting. Unquote:

Missouri is home, both our families are there. Great hunting & fishing, cost of living is a low lower then Virginia, and great barbecue.Smile Tornado's, but it is what it is,just be prepared.



"All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope."

--Sir Winston Churchill

"The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose."

--James Earl Jones



 
Posts: 7652 | Location: KCMO | Registered: August 31, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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My take is that the type of annuities that these guys offer do offer security and a steady payment. BUT it comes at a HUGE price.
A competent advisor can help you do much better with your money with very minor risk exposure.
I use advisor recommendations for annuities as the indication that I'm not speaking to the right advisor.
BTW, the commission on annuities is one of the most profitable things an advisor can sell. Makes it a very profitable thing for them and they then don't have to do any additional work managing that portion of the money any longer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Powers77,
 
Posts: 1950 | Location: Indiana or Florida depending on season  | Registered: March 18, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I dislike annuities. There is too much of a “heads I win, tails you lose” aspect to them and if you have the financial prowess to critically analyze them, it would likely be very dismaying.

Sales charges are very high and rarely fully disclosed. That explains why so many outfits exist to sell them. It’s an insurance product, of course.

They often market them by misrepresentation to start. That Ty. J. Young, who promises your investments will go up, never down, is an insurance guy, has no securities license. I have learned, through long and bitter experience, my own and clients, to avoid such things. https://www.truthinadvertising.org/ty-jyoung/

There is also the risk that the insurer that you deal with will fold up in some future financial catastrophe, and there go all the eggs in that basket. The risk is slight but the damage is total.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I'm also not an annuity fan. I even sold them at one point in my financial career. In my view, they are a poor fit for your stated needs. If you live to be 100, they may be fine but what happens if you tip over in a year? What happens to the money?

I have been retired for 2 years and have managed my own investments with advice from the Motley Fool Pro/Options. I don't mean for this to be a commercial for the Fool, but they have done right by me and the cost is reasonable for the quality of advice they offer. They have cheaper products you can view on their website.

I trade with TD Ameritrade but there are others offering no advice/inexpensive trades. I don't trade stocks very often but I do use a variety of options. I am currently 75% stock and 25% cash. I draw a monthly 'paycheck' from my cash.

I don't know what your investment knowledge is but the Fool walks you through each transaction and provides excellent training online to teach the fundamentals.

Again this is not a commercial. There are probably a number of subscription based services that offer excellent advise for a fee that is not related to your trading activity. I know a number of investment/financial planners. They can make an enormous salary. Who do you think pays that?

Mike



I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown
...................................
When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
 
Posts: 4214 | Location: Saddlebrooke, Arizona | Registered: December 24, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Whatever you do. Try to keep it simple.

Not really a lot of advantage to complicated financial plans. Success doesn't have to be complicated.

--------------------------------------


Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
 
Posts: 8940 | Location: Florida | Registered: September 20, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Baroque Bloke
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I hired a financial adviser, located near my home, to manage my assets. I did research to find a guy that was honest and competent – he's not Warren Buffet, but competent. Together, we selected a suitable investment profile. Income and moderate growth in my case. He charges me ~1.25% percent per annum for funds under management. The cost of trades he makes to adjust for changing conditions is covered by his fee. Generally speaking, the larger your account, the lower the rate. He provides other services too, such as coordinating with my tax guy, sending a monthly "paycheck" to my bank account, and staging monthly transfers from my IRA account to a fixed income account to provide for the annual MRD. He also treats me to a nice lunch when we meet for a quarterly review. Smile



Serious about crackers
 
Posts: 8851 | Location: San Diego | Registered: July 26, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Some general advice. Up to the day you retire you will be confident you have invested well and wisely. The first day of your retirement you will be positive you haven't saved enough and retirement was a big mistake. Went through it, I have since recovered and retiring was the best decision for me.

Most of the posts I saw were negative on annuities. I agree with them, I have one but I started it 20 years ago and got tax breaks with it. I just started withdrawing from it this month.

I can see having an annuity as part of your portfolio, something stable but it would be a minority part, 20% or 25%. I would have the majority of your portfolio in mutual funds. You can decide whether to buy stock funds and bond funds, or buy balanced funds that do the decision making for you. If you purchase an annuity the managers will invest in the same places the mutual fund managers do.
 
Posts: 590 | Location: Glide, Oregon | Registered: March 23, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I strongly suspect the actuarial realities do not make them an attractive bet.

In other words, they have a good statistical idea of how long the annuity pool will live, and price them so that they will not fail to make money. There is nothing wrong with making money, mind you. But you are, essentially, betting on how long you will live. As someone said, if you live to 100, you will make out like a bandit. If you die next week, you are screwed.

Make a conventional investment instead.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
 
Posts: 53117 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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We have 3 separate annuities that make up a third of our monthly income. The growth isn't anything to brag about, but they are lifetime and transferable at a cost. I didn't want to worry about our investments and income in our retirement so these worked best for us. We have very little invested in the market so I can sleep at night worry free.

Jim


________________________

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll have to be a horrible warning" -Catherine Aird
 
Posts: 9791 | Location: The right side of Washington State | Registered: September 14, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Hoping for better pharmaceuticals
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Perhaps you should talk to a certified financial planner. Stock brokers and managers can call themselves financial planners, but not certified, unless they have taken additional courses and passed their exam.




Getting shot is no achievement. Hitting your enemy is. NRA Endowment Member . NRA instructor
 
Posts: 8752 | Location: Peoria, Arizona | Registered: April 02, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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My MIL had a large one when she died. It took 3 years for the kids to get their money out. Probably not what she intended and from what I gathered, the profit on the original investment wasn’t that great. On the other hand my mother had one that we cashed out before she died. It only took 2 months to get the paper work approved and a payout. They’re not very liquid.


———-
Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for thou art crunchy and taste good with catsup.
 
Posts: 4306 | Location: DFW | Registered: May 21, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by jbcummings:
My MIL had a large one when she died. It took 3 years for the kids to get their money out. Probably not what she intended and from what I gathered, the profit on the original investment wasn’t that great. On the other hand my mother had one that we cashed out before she died. It only took 2 months to get the paper work approved and a payout. They’re not very liquid.


Profit is not a concept ordinarily associated with annuities, nor is liquidity.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Cliff, I think you are getting some good thoughts here. I am no expert and in the end, might lose my ass. I sure hope not.

While hiring some kind of money managing expert will get some play here by some. My take is try to educate yourself. There are tons of resources along with online info. Plus free places (like hereSmile) to get opinions. Ultimately you are going to be the one to make decisions and be responsible for your success or failures.

Bottom line. The paid experts are in it for themselves. Sometimes the spread the success to the client. Most of the time the success is theirs.

You sound conservative minded. So that will limit your risk if you keep that mindset.

I say get your feet wet. At least take some of your $ and self invest in with a quality company. Watch it, monitor it and see how it goes.

Annuities are money makers for those selling them. That is the real story on them, period imho.



"Practice like you want to play in the game"
 
Posts: 19111 | Registered: September 21, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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As others have suggested get a fee based Certified Financial Advisor. He or she will put you in a balanced portfolio geared towards your goals. Their fees are sometimes negotiable. I have worked with one firm for over 15 years and they charge less then 1%.
My wife worked for a large Annuity company for several years. They wouldn’t be selling annuities if they didn’t make a profit on them. I choose not to contribute to their profit.
 
Posts: 185 | Location: Deep Creek Lake, MD, Stuart, FL.  | Registered: December 24, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Baroque Bloke
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quote:
Originally posted by jhe888:
<snip>
If you die next week, you are screwed.
<snip>

Truer words were never spoken!



Serious about crackers
 
Posts: 8851 | Location: San Diego | Registered: July 26, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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