Video Transcript

Hi, my name's David Alemian, I'm a life insurance agent, been one for over 16 years. I'm also a life insurance agent recruiter and a life insurance agent trainer. Today's question is how to invest in insurance annuities? Well, to buy an insurance annuity you have to buy it from an insurance agent. So first and foremost sit down with an insurance agent that you trust. Now in order for this agent to make recommendations about which annuity product is best for you he or she will take you through a process, a fact finding process and this is a list of questions that the agent will ask you so it's best to prepare ahead of time so that you can help the agent help you. Now these lists of questions would be things like a list of your assets and liabilities, the source of the funds of what you're going to use to purchase the annuity. You know for example if the funds are coming from some type of CD or 401K or an IRA, it's always a good idea to provide the agent with a statement, a copy of your you know account statements. Now if you're purchasing a deferred annuity always inquire about the surrender charges because you want to make sure that you have enough liquidity in case you have a financial emergency down the road. Also, ask if there's a premium bonus. What's a premium bonus? A premium bonus is where the insurance company gives you a bonus in some cases up to 10 percent of the principle of what you're buying that annuity. So for example, if you are putting a 100,000 dollars into that annuity, on day 1 the insurance company would credit your account 110,000 dollars. Oh, very important, always make sure that you understand all of the aspects of the annuity. Make sure that the insurance agent explains everything in terms that you can understand. Sometimes in the insurance business we use words that not your average everyday person's used to so make sure the agent uses some type of terminology that you're not familiar with, make sure that they explain what they mean so that way you understand everything. Now finally a rider you should inquire about on the annuity is called the lifetime income benefit rider. This is a brand new rider that has only been available over the last year or two. This rider is an important thing to have if you're looking for lifetime income from that annuity eventually. So these are some of the things that you should think about when you're looking to invest in an insurance annuity. My name's David Alemian, thank you for watching.