Truth About Buying Annuities, The

This book is packed with great examples & compatible investment strategies. Easy to understand with minimal fluffI had very little understanding of annuities prior to reading this. My mother in law is coming up on retirement & I wanted to make sure she wasn't taken advantage of.The author's stance is semi-against annuities, but gives great examples for & against specific annuity structures.I decided that annuities are still the right option for my mother in law's situation & this book really helped make me confident in that decision. So many great points of consideration. I feel my understanding of annuities & salesman tactics were greatly improved by this book. The author also directs you to many great, non-biased resources to further your knowledge or report illegal/predatory sales practices.Any negative reviews are clearly individuals that sell annuities & are not looking out for your best interest!

I would expect the only people writing a negative opinion of this book would be those involved in selling annuities,which I'm told is very profitable....You should read this before even considering buying an annuity...Its not at all negative or against annuities...Its about knowing what you get and getting past the sales hype....knowing what to ask and what to look for in a contract before signing...( hidden fees!)....

A must read if you considering annuities.

These seemed to be a very unbiased look at a variety of annuities and riders. This is an important read for anyone considering purchasing an annuity.

This author omits the most important facts about today's Annuities. The guaranteed principle and income riders.People who took Steve Weisman's advice to stay away from annuities and lost 40% to 50% of their life savings in 2008 should be upset.For a fee of .35% per year, which is just 350 per 100,000 . Your principal could have been 100% protected from loss as long as you don't withdraw more than 10% per year and hold your annuity for 7 years.Another very popular rider that has also been available for years is called Lifetime HD 7 and has a .75% yearly fee.This rider locks in market gains EVERY DAY and guarantees a 100% return of principal after 10 years.It also guarantees a 7.2% compounded return for your retirement value .It guarantees your retirement value to be 200% in 10 yrs and 400% in 20yrs (this value is what you can base your 5-8% lifetime withdrawal on. You cannot walk away with this amount as you can with your principle.)When you start your lifetime withdrawals they can never stop even if you run out of principle.Your income can also continue at your death for your spouse and double if you enter a nursing home or become disabled.For this author to completely omit these riders in his book shows he may be biased and have an anti annuity agenda.

This book is overwhelmingly negative towards annuities. Although, I think that many of the author's (Weisman) points are valid they are mainly geared toward older variable annuities, with particular attention given to equity indexed annuities and annuitization. Not one of the 50 chapters is devoted to living benefits, which make today's annuities most attractive.I am very disappointed in this book. Nothing of what the author outlined is factually incorrect, but it is written as if he looked for all the negative aspects and published them. To write a book title " The Trust About Annuities" in 2008 and not even mention living income benefits (GMIBs, GMWBs, etc) seems negligent.

This book is divided into brief, information packed chapters, providing a very readable and understandable treatise on a complex subject. Highly recommended as a first resource for anyone considering an annuity investment.

The contracts on insurance products are written for the benefit of the insurance companies, not the insured. This is the first book I have read that simply and yet completely explains a complicated financial product that most people buy without understanding what they are buying. Annuities are an area where there has been great abuse by salespeople; I wish I could make this book required reading before anyone could by one.