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October 24, 2011 at 11:31 AM
Allianz launched on Monday a series of animated videos for consumers that address annuity information and misconceptions.
“The economic downturn of 2008 caused a major shift in many people’s attitudes and finances,” Katie Libbe, vice president of consumer insights at Allianz Life, said in a statement. “As we discovered in the Allianz Life Reclaiming the Future study, many baby boomers lost money and are aware—and scared—of the risk of outliving their money. They now desire safety, security, and predictability over growth.”
In a follow-up to Allianz’s Reclaiming the Future survey, boomers reported being more attracted to income guarantees than to the promise of high returns with market risk, Libbe added.
Furthermore, more than half of the respondents in the survey expressed distaste for the word annuity, Libbe said, even after describing an annuity-like product as their ideal financial vehicle. One of the videos, “Annuity Myths and Truths,” addresses some of those misconceptions. Despite being geared toward consumers, the video stresses the importance of consulting a financial professional for guidance.
“As a direct result of what we learned from Reclaiming the Future, we invested in the ABCs of Annuities series to help us educate consumers on the benefits of today’s annuities while debunking outdated, and often incorrect, perceptions,” Libbe concluded. “Other available educational vehicles are often complicated, boring or too product-specific. We want to prevent people from tuning out when they hear the word ‘annuity’—and we feel that this series can help change that. We deliberately designed the videos to be educational and entertaining.”
