Re: Annuities...are they a crap shoot?

"Elle" <honda.lioness@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>"Douglas Johnson" <post@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote

>> Almost any (all that I know of) investment products that 
>> are sold by a
>> commissioned sales force are high cost products.  Someone 
>> is paying for those
>> fancy suits and ****ny shoes.  Guess who.
>
>
>But is it fair to call an annuity just an investment 
>product? Or is it more of an insurance product? The 
>insurance provided being (in general) predictable income for 
>the rest of one's life.

I agree that a fixed annuity is an insurance product. But from what the
original
poster wrote:
>On Mar 28, 2:13 pm, V <vf...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> My wife has a broker acquaintance that wants her to invest her
> retirement fund (all of it) in a Pacific Life annuity. The annuity is
> supposed to double your money in 10 years or sooner. I noticed on the
> cover of the Pacific Life brochure that it states "may lose money"

It sounds like a variable annuity, which I would consider an investment
product.

>I draw the distinction because one could make the same 
>argument about, say, life insurance. Life insurance could be 
>said to be high cost, with a potentially low bang for one's 
>buck, too, if one forgets that the main product being 
>purchased is peace of mind.

However, I'll go on to suggest that insurance products sold by a
commissioned
sales force tend to be high cost as well.  They could still  deliver a
valuable
product.  If the sales person is good, they might deliver high service.
Commissioned sales force  may be the only distribution channel for the
product,
so you are stuck with the high costs,  but they are still high cost. 
Someone
pays for the fancy suits and ****ny shoes. 

-- Doug

--------------------------------------
Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators
strive
to keep the conversations on-topic for financial planning. Other posting
guidelines include a request for brevity and another for trimming posts to
which we respond.  For all of the other tips and suggestions, see "FROM
THE
MODERATORS: Posting to misc.invest.financial-plan", a weekly post now on
the
Newsgroup.