In this episode, The Annuity Man discussed:

• Questioning the fiduciary label

• Recognizing bad advice despite credentials

• Performing personal due diligence

• Choosing advisors carefully and staying informed

Key Takeaways:

• "Fiduciary" is often misused by advisors as a marketing badge rather than a guarantee of acting in the client's best interest. Consumers should not assume a plaque or certification automatically equals sound advice.

• Even certified fiduciaries can make improper or risky recommendations, as illustrated by a reverse mortgage case leading to unsuitable annuity and insurance products. Titles and certifications do not replace critical evaluation of financial advice.

• Do your own research, ask questions, and verify recommendations, especially when products are complex or seem too good to be true. Relying solely on an advisor's credentials can expose you to financial harm.

• Stan recommends fee-only fiduciaries for non-annuities but urges extra caution when advisors sell annuities.

• Seeking second opinions and consulting specialists helps protect against misleading or unethical guidance.

"People are hiding behind a certification. They're hiding behind that F‑word, fiduciary, to recommend products that make no sense." — Stan The Annuity Man

Connect with The Annuity Man:

Website: http://theannuityman.com/

Email: Stan@TheAnnuityMan.com

Book: Owner's Manuals: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/how-do-annuities-work

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXKKxvVslbeGAlEc5sra2g

Get a Quote Today: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/annuity-calculator!

In this episode, The Annuity Man and Terry Savage discuss:

• What is "chicken money"?

• Considering future crises in your financial plan

• Seeking trusted advisors

• Building an income floor

Key Takeaways:

• Your "chicken money" is money that you can't afford to lose. CDs, treasury bills, money markets, AAA municipal bonds, and MYGAs are suitable options. MYGAs and CDs are great for principal protection and tax deferral benefits. Focus on having an income floor and principal protection in retirement plans.

• It's important to consider possible future financial crises and plan for them, regardless of political outcomes. Social Security is a primary source of retirement income.

• Seek trusted financial advice from fiduciaries who fully disclose costs and operate on a fee-only basis. See to it personally that you are able to customize your financial plan according to your goals.

• Have an income floor to protect yourself against market fluctuations and ensure financial stability. Social Security is a strong foundation for retirement income. Build on it with guaranteed products. Consider both the short-term and the long-term in your financial plan.

"Chicken money, by definition, is money you cannot afford to lose, and as such, it belongs in things like short-term CDs, treasury bills." — Terry Savage

Connect with Terry Savage:

Website: https://www.terrysavage.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesavagetruth/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Savage-Truth-190870517609983/

New Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119645441/ref=pe_2313400_441222210_em_1p_0_lm

Connect with The Annuity Man:

Website: http://theannuityman.com/

Email: Stan@TheAnnuityMan.com

Book: Owner's Manuals: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/how-do-annuities-work

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXKKxvVslbeGAlEc5sra2g

Get a Quote Today: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/annuity-calculator!

In this episode, The Annuity Man discussed:

• Understanding why life insurance loans are not income

• Questioning glossy tax-free income pitches

• Keeping life insurance simple and purpose-driven

• Testing illustrations and setting clear expectations

Key Takeaways:

• Loans from a life insurance policy are not income, just as bank loans are not income. They are tax-free only because they must be repaid, not because they create earnings. Calling them "tax-free income" is a misleading sales framing.

• Many life insurance illustrations rely on optimistic assumptions and attractive projections. High internal fees and commissions often benefit the agent more than the client. If a pitch sounds too good to be true, it usually deserves deeper scrutiny.

• Life insurance works best when focused on its core purpose: a tax-free death benefit. Level term coverage maximizes protection while minimizing cost and complexity. Avoid products with indexes, market ties, or unnecessary moving parts.

• Running illustrations at 0% growth reveals the true impact of fees and loan costs. This stress test shows whether a policy can sustain itself over time. Life insurance should be positioned as protection, not a tax-free income strategy.

"With life insurance, you buy the most death benefit you can for the least amount of money. It's that simple." — Stan The Annuity Man

Connect with The Annuity Man:

Website: http://theannuityman.com/

Email: Stan@TheAnnuityMan.com

Book: Owner's Manuals: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/how-do-annuities-work

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXKKxvVslbeGAlEc5sra2g

Get a Quote Today: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/annuity-calculator!

In this episode, The Annuity Man discussed:

• Seeing through product-driven Roth pitches

• Recognizing political risk in long-term tax planning

• Keeping conversions separate from annuity products

• Avoiding shiny-object sales tactics

Key Takeaways:

• Treat Roth conversions as tax decisions rather than annuity strategies. Rely on math and tax guidance instead of sales-driven framing.

• Understand that tax-free structures like Roths can face future policy shifts. Plan with awareness that political changes may affect long-term assumptions.

• Run conversion numbers independently of any annuity recommendation. Evaluate tax impact, break-even timing, and personal comfort before acting.

• Watch for bonuses, churning, and pressure to "flip" existing annuities. Focus on guarantees, documentation, and advice from qualified tax professionals.

"You should never do a Roth conversion without talking to a Certified Financial Planner, a CPA, or tax lawyer. Period." — Stan The Annuity Man

Connect with The Annuity Man:

Website: http://theannuityman.com/

Email: Stan@TheAnnuityMan.com

Book: Owner's Manuals: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/how-do-annuities-work

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXKKxvVslbeGAlEc5sra2g

Get a Quote Today: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/annuity-calculator!

In this episode, The Annuity Man and Michael Finke discuss:

• Annuities are more attractive today

• Protecting your future lifestyle

• Cutting little slices from the birthday cake

• There's no perfect product to solve for inflation

Key Takeaways:

• At the time of this episode's taping, near-retirees can lock in 5.2% on five-year MYGAs for the next five years; however, it may go up or down.

• When buying an annuity, you're buying yourself a minimum standard of living forever, no matter how long you live. You have to choose if you want to shoulder the risk or transfer it. Your future lifestyle is at stake.

• It's not going to be easy, but you must first recognize that you're not going to live forever. You have to decide how you could spread out your savings to accommodate your lifestyle until you die, or if you want to spend more money to have less worry.

• If you can be more flexible, then inflation's impact won't be that big of a deal. Also, there's no perfect product to solve for inflation. There are options that could help you have some stability through it, like Social Security and I Bonds.

"If we model out 1000 different potential retirements, the ones who will have an annuity will, on average, be happier, but the ones with an investment portfolio might have a slightly higher probability of success. But there is no information about what failure means." — Michael Finke.

Connect With Michael Finke:

Website: http://www.michaelfinke.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-finke-8134808/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mfinke

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinkeonFinance

Connect with The Annuity Man:

Website: http://theannuityman.com/

Email: Stan@TheAnnuityMan.com

Book: Owner's Manuals: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/how-do-annuities-work

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXKKxvVslbeGAlEc5sra2g

Get a Quote Today: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/annuity-calculator!

In this episode, The Annuity Man discussed:

• Designing dependable inheritances

• Structuring income for generations

• Choosing tools for guaranteed legacy streams

• Partnering wisely with trusted professionals

Key Takeaways:

• Integrating annuities into estate plans allows individuals to pass on structured, reliable income rather than lump-sum inheritances, protecting beneficiaries from mismanagement or market risk.

• Estate plans can specify lifetime payments, joint-income arrangements, or funds designated for annuities, giving families long-term financial stability across multiple generations.

• Tools like SPIAs and QLACs offer flexible ways to create guaranteed income streams for spouses and heirs, making them valuable components of a well-structured legacy strategy.

• Working with estate planning lawyers and unbiased annuity professionals—such as firms that operate without commissions—helps ensure these strategies are tailored properly and set up without delay.

"You need to set these things up so that when you die, things are triggered and happen exactly like you want them to happen." — Stan The Annuity Man

Connect with The Annuity Man:

Website: http://theannuityman.com/

Email: Stan@TheAnnuityMan.com

Book: Owner's Manuals: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/how-do-annuities-work

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXKKxvVslbeGAlEc5sra2g

Get a Quote Today: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/annuity-calculator!

In this episode, The Annuity Man discussed:

• Prioritizing safety and guarantees

• Selling only contractual commitments

• Using PILL to guide purpose

Key Takeaways:

• Annuities should focus on protecting principal and providing a reliable income. Strong insurance carrier backing ensures certainty and reduces risk. Avoiding speculative products maintains financial security for clients.

• Only offer annuities with contractual guarantees, not hypothetical promises. Market-based growth claims are often unrealistic and misleading. Contractual commitments provide clarity and protect client interests.

• PILL stands for principal protection, income for life, legacy, and long-term care. This framework aligns annuities with client goals and priorities. It provides a clear structure for evaluating annuity suitability.

"With annuities, you're transferring the risk to the life insurance company that issues the annuity." — Stan The Annuity Man

Connect with The Annuity Man:

Website: http://theannuityman.com/

Email: Stan@TheAnnuityMan.com

Book: Owner's Manuals: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/how-do-annuities-work

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXKKxvVslbeGAlEc5sra2g

Get a Quote Today: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/annuity-calculator!

In case you missed it, I have decided to circle back to one of my Fun With Annuities episodes that just cannot be missed. This one has annuity gold, and it is definitely a must-listen.

In this episode, The Annuity Man and Moshe Milevsky discuss:

• The problem with annuities

• What's a tontine?

• How income increases with tontines

• The gap between healthspan and lifespan

Key Takeaways:

• The point of annuities is to generate a predictable income even when you can no longer make decisions yourself due to cognitive decline. That's why agents have to make sure the clients understand and continue to understand what they are buying and what contractual guarantees they have in place.

• A tontine is one of the many strategies people use to finance themselves in retirement, in which the longest-living people get the most income, while the people who didn't live a long time get a smaller amount of income.

• Tontines increase the income for all living people involved as time passes because the same income amount is being split within a group that gets smaller as members pass away. The mortality rate becomes a real interest rate - this is most interesting in the current inflationary times.

• Money alone doesn't solve your problems; just throwing money at a problem won't make it go away. You need to do something with it to solve your problems, and one of the biggest problems in aging is the gap between health span and lifespan.

"When you have a product that is meant to help people that are eventually going to cognitively decline, there's a higher burden of care there because you got to make sure that they understand what they're buying and they continue to understand what they're buying." — Moshe Milevsky

Connect with Moshe Milevsky:

Website: https://moshemilevsky.com/

Connect with The Annuity Man:

Website: http://theannuityman.com/

Email: Stan@TheAnnuityMan.com

Book: Owner's Manuals: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/how-do-annuities-work

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCXKKxvVslbeGAlEc5sra2g

Get a Quote Today: https://www.stantheannuityman.com/annuity-calculator!