We help people approaching or already in retirement use annuities and Indexed Universal Life to build income they can count on — without betting their savings on the next downturn.
Book a Free Consultation Start With the BasicsIllustrative only. Actual floors, caps and growth depend entirely on the product and carrier.
When you're still working, a bad year in the market is something you ride out — you have paychecks coming and decades to recover. Once you retire, two things change at once, and together they cause most of the damage.
While you're working, a downturn is almost a discount — your contributions buy in cheaply. In retirement it's the reverse. You're selling to fund your life, so a drop means selling more shares to get the same monthly income, and there's less left to recover when the market turns.
Two people can retire with the same savings and the same average return over twenty years, and one runs out of money while the other doesn't. The difference is simply when the bad years arrived. Early losses do lasting damage in a way that late ones don't. Planners call this sequence-of-returns risk.
This is why the question shifts as you get closer. It stops being "how much can this grow?" and becomes "how much of this can I afford to lose right before I need it?"
Both products we work with are built on the same simple idea: a limit on how far your account can fall, in exchange for a limit on how far it can climb.
That trade is the entire product. Whether it's a good trade depends on your situation — which is the actual conversation worth having.
They get mentioned in the same breath, but they solve different problems. Most people need one, some need neither, and a few need both.
Solves: outliving your money.
A contract with an insurance company. You put in a lump sum or pay over time, and it pays you back on a schedule you choose — often for the rest of your life. It's the closest thing available to building yourself a pension.
Usually fits: people at or near retirement who have savings and want a predictable monthly number.
Solves: protecting people who depend on you, while building cash value.
Permanent life insurance that does two jobs: it pays a death benefit, and it accumulates cash value tied to the performance of a market index without being invested directly in the market.
Usually fits: people with a longer horizon who need the death benefit anyway and want the tax treatment.
We would rather tell you that now than three meetings in.
The index-linked crediting in these products is designed so a negative index year credits zero rather than a loss. But that's not the whole answer. Fees, rider charges and withdrawals can still reduce your value, and taking money out during the surrender period can cost you a meaningful chunk. Any guarantees are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company — not by a government agency.
It varies by product. Some annuities have no explicit annual fee, with the insurer's margin built into the caps; others charge for optional riders such as guaranteed income or enhanced death benefits. IUL policies have cost-of-insurance charges that rise as you age. Ask for the specific numbers on the specific contract, in writing, and don't accept a vague answer — from us or anyone.
Partly, and with conditions. Most contracts allow a penalty-free withdrawal each year, commonly around 10% of value, and charge a surrender fee above that during a set period — often somewhere between five and ten years, declining over time. Withdrawals before age 59½ may also carry a tax penalty. This is why it should never be all of your money.
We're licensed insurance producers, not registered investment advisors. We're paid commission by the carrier when a policy is issued, not a fee by you. Insurance recommendations are subject to best-interest and suitability rules, and we're happy to walk you through exactly how we're compensated on anything we recommend. If your situation calls for securities or fee-based advice, we'll say so.
It depends on the contract and how it's set up. Many annuities pass the remaining value to a named beneficiary; some income options stop at death unless a survivor or period-certain feature was chosen. Life insurance pays a death benefit to beneficiaries, generally income-tax-free. This is exactly why we review beneficiary designations — they override your will.
No. The first conversation is us understanding your situation and you deciding whether we're worth a second one. If what you have is already working, we'll tell you. Nothing gets recommended until we've done the analysis and the required suitability review.
No obligation at any point, and nothing to sign until you understand exactly what you'd be signing.
Twenty to thirty minutes, by phone or in person. What you have, what you want it to do, what worries you. Bring questions.
We collect the details — accounts, income, timeline, what matters most. About ten minutes at home, so the meeting isn't spent on paperwork.
Where your income would come from, where the gaps are, and what your current plan does in a bad year. Then options with real numbers, costs included.
Take as long as you need, and involve whoever you want. If you move ahead, we handle the paperwork and stay in touch afterward.
Worst case you spend half an hour and understand your own situation better than you did this morning.
Book a Free ConsultationOr call (386) 999-1534 · Nvalery@onelifefl.com
