Grade Your Offer
Questions to ask, red flags, suitability rules, and how to check a seller and an insurer.
Grade Your Annuity Offer: A Step-by-Step Self-Check
A plain-English checklist for grading an annuity offer yourself: what it is, who sells it, how it fits, what leaving costs and what to get in writing.
Read · 6 min read →Grade Your OfferQuestions to Ask Before Buying an Annuity: Get the Answers in Writing
The questions regulators and consumer guides suggest asking about an annuity contract, the person selling it, the recommendation and the insurer, and why written answers matter.
Read · 5 min read →Grade Your OfferAnnuity Red Flags and Scams That Target Retirees
Warning signs regulators flag in annuity sales to older adults, from free-lunch seminars and made-up senior titles to churning, pressure and fake government callers.
Read · 5 min read →Grade Your OfferBest-Interest Rules for Annuity Sales: NAIC Model 275 and Reg BI
How the NAIC's annuity best-interest model and the SEC's Regulation Best Interest shape annuity recommendations, what they require, and what they do not promise.
Read · 6 min read →Grade Your OfferHow to Check an Annuity Agent's License and the Insurer Behind It
Step-by-step checks before you buy: verify the agent with your state insurance department and BrokerCheck, size up senior titles, and confirm the insurer is licensed.
Read · 5 min read →Grade Your OfferState Guaranty Associations: What They Cover and Where Limits Apply
What happens to an annuity if the insurer fails, how state life and health guaranty associations step in, the NAIC model's coverage limits, and what is left out.
Read · 5 min read →