Six reasons to walk away
Situations in which an annuity is probably the wrong choice — and in which a good agent should tell you so.
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Twelve Annuity Myths. Answered With Real Numbers.
Get the unfiltered truth — free.
Annuities are the most argued-about product in American retirement. This handbook takes the twelve objections we hear most often and does three things with each: states the myth in the words people actually use, gives the accurate answer, and says plainly where the skeptics have a point.
Financially reviewed by Stephen Kates, CFP®
Principal Financial Analyst, Annuity.org
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Inside the handbook
Twelve things almost everyone gets wrong
Read the myths that match your own objections — you don’t need to go in order. Each one gets the accurate answer and the honest version of the objection.
Annuities are a bad investment
They’re packed with hidden fees
If I die early, the company keeps my money
My money is locked up forever
The payments never keep up with inflation
Annuities are only for people already retired
I don’t need one — I have a 401(k)
The rates are terrible
If the insurer fails, I lose everything
The agent just wants the commission
They’re too complicated to understand
Once I sign, I’m stuck
Plus a page near the back devoted to six reasons an annuity may be the wrong choice for you — because that page is the reason you should trust the rest.
The most misunderstood product in American retirement
Three numbers explain the whole market
$464.1BU.S. retail annuity sales in 2025, up 7% over 2024 — a fourth straight record year
67%of surveyed Americans with household income above $50,000 fear running out of money more than death — up 10 points since 2022
4.1MAmericans turning 65 every year, most of them without a pension to fall back on
Sales figures: LIMRA U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey, final 2025 results. Every figure in the handbook is sourced on its final page, with the date it was current.
27 pages, no filler
What you actually get
The five families, on one page
MYGA, FIA, RILA, variable and income annuities compared by growth, downside, fee and best fit.
Your monthly income floor gap
Five minutes with a pen produces the one number any honest recommendation should be sized against.
Twelve questions and ten red flags
Print them, bring them, write the answers down. How they answer question 10 tells you most of what you need to know.
One thing to know before you read it
Annuity.org is a licensed annuity and life insurance agency, and we are paid when readers go on to work with an agent in our network. We have a financial interest in your decision to buy an annuity. We tell you that on page 2 of the handbook rather than in the small print, because a guide like this one is worth less if you discover it later — and because from where we sit, the only version worth writing is the one that also tells you when to walk away.
Financially reviewed by
Meet Stephen Kates, CFP®
Stephen Kates, CFP®
Principal Financial Analyst, Annuity.org
A CFP® professional since 2013 and a licensed life insurance agent in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Fifteen years in the industry, including Fidelity Investments, TIAA-CREF and Head of Financial Planning at Advisor.com; founder of Clocktower Financial Consulting.
Stephen reviewed every figure and every claim in this handbook.
Get the version that also tells you when to walk away
Twelve myths, three worksheets, and the twelve questions worth more than the rest of the document combined.
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