Top Three Reasons to Avoid Variable Annuities

Brian Fricke, CFP®Asset Protection, Financial Planning

Variable annuities are popular in times of market turbulence because of extra fringe benefits like “guaranteed income for life” or “withdrawal benefits.” However, these are the three reasons why those fringe benefits don’t always mean variable annuities are a good investment option for you: High Cost – variable annuities are double or triple the cost of a mutual fund, which … Read More

Are annuities good or bad?

Brian Fricke, CFP®Investing

Back in the late 90s, we had over $60 million of investments allocated to annuities. Today we don’t put any money in annuities. Here’s why…

Annuity creates surprise tax bill

Brian Fricke, CFP®Taxes

Someone, most likely an annuity salesperson, may have told you an annuity is a good way to reduce your income taxes. Well, here’s a situation we came across where an annuity created a huge tax bill that came as a big surprise to the family.