Guarantees and Security in a New Economy

In a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswire reporter Daisy Maxey asked six financial advisors for their recommendations in several areas of consumer finance for 2010. The article sought to answer the question on everybody’s mind: “Now what?”

Of most interest to producers would be Maxey’s final question to the panel: “What are you advising in terms of insurance, because the past year and a half has raiesd the issue of security?”

Included on the panel were

• William T. Baldwin, president and co-founder of the Waltham, MA Pillar Financial Advisors
• Richard L. Bellmer, president of Deerfield Financial Advisors Inc. in Indianapolis, IN
• Michael Joyce, founder and president of Joyce Payne Partners in Richmond, VA
• Diahann W. Lassus, president and co-founder of the New Providence, NJ-based Lassus Wherley & Associates
• Thomas Orecchio, president and principal of Modera Wealth Management in Westwood, NJ
• Robert Wacker, president and chief investment officer of the San Luis Obispo, CA-located R.E. Wacker Associates Inc.

I personally found their responses to be interesting in that, for one, they all focused on annuities. Joyce came right out and said “I have not been a big fan of annuities, and for the most part, I’m still not,” but he touted the benefits of immediate annuities. Baldwin seconded that recommendation, and Wacker went a step further to mention guaranteed income annuities.

The reason many of them centered on this particular product when it comes to security and financial issues is the annuity’s ability to protect a client’s income from market turbulence – especially when it comes to indexed annuities.

In fact, one of the advisors even brought up a client who loved to spend – they locked many of their assets in an annuity, and when they’d finished spending everything down, the secure annuity remained as their primary asset.