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Description
The idea of annuities goes back to ancient Rome, where its citizens could make an upfront payment in a contract, called an annua, in exchange for steady payments for life or for a certain time period. Today, annuities have grown more diverse, and thus more complicated, with different types of annuities each offering different types of guarantees and savings features, subject to the claims-paying ability of the insurer. Those bells and whistles can make annuities hard for investors to comprehend. And, they can make annuities expensive to purchase. This course reviews the basics of annuities with a focus on deferred variable annuities and the FINRA regulations pertaining to those annuities.
Learning Objectives
• Explain how an annuity guarantees a unique benefit that other financial products
• Identify the purposes of an annuity;
• Explain the differences between fixed annuities and variable annuities;
• Educate your clients on some of the popular kinds of annuities in financial planning—flexible-premium deferred annuities, single-premium deferred annuities, single-premium immediate annuities, joint and survivor annuities, and deferred variable annuities;
• Identify two rules that place responsibility on registered representatives who recommend variable annuities to their client.