Annuity Guys®

Annuity Rates, Features & Ratings: America's trusted annuity resource. Compare best options for hybrid, index, fixed, variable & immediate annuity quotes.


Helping You Create Great Results Your Retirement Deserves!



(217)753-1515
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Site Terms & Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • FAQs
    • Most Frequently Asked Annuity Questions
  • All Annuity Guys Videos
  • Annuity Types
    • Best Annuity Reviews
    • Market Free™ Annuities
    • Choosing an Annuity
    • Deferred Annuities
    • Hybrid Annuity Choices
      • Hybrid Annuity Pros&Cons
      • Hybrid Income Riders
      • Hybrid Annuity Guarantees & Strategies
    • Fixed Annuity Choices
      • Fixed Annuity Performance
      • Better Fixed Annuities
      • Fixed Deferred Annuities
      • Fixed Rate Annuities
      • Fixed Annuity Alternatives
      • Fixed Annuity Pros & Cons
      • Fixed Annuity Negatives
    • Index Annuity Choices
      • Fixed Index Annuity Features
      • Fixed Index Annuity Performance
      • Better Fixed Index Annuities
      • Fixed Index Annuity Alternatives
      • Fixed Index Annuity Pros & Cons
      • Fixed Index Annuity History
      • Fixed Index Annuity Negatives
    • Immediate Annuities
      • Immediate Variable Annuity
      • Immediate Fixed Annuities
    • Variable Annuities
      • Variable Annuity Features
      • Better Variable Annuities
      • Variable Annuities Disadvantages
      • Variable Annuity Alternatives
      • Variable Annuity Negatives
      • Variable Annuity Performance
    • Pre-Issued Annuities™
      • Hybrid Annuities versus Pre-Issued Annuities ™
    • Annuity Glossary
  • Articles
    • How Do MarketFree™ Annuities Work?
    • Are Annuities Safe?
    • Living Benefits
    • FIA Performance
    • Beware of FIAs?
    • Annuities & Retirement
    • Annuities & Estate Tax
    • Rollovers & Annuities
    • Annuities & Tax
    • Charity & Annuities
    • The Lost Decade
    • Best Annuity Videos
    • Social Security Benefits
  • Calculators
    • Retirement Planning Calculator — Basic
    • Retirement Shortfall Calculator — Basic
    • Immediate Annuity Calculator & Quotes
    • Fixed Index Annuity Calculator & Fixed Annuity Calculator
    • Variable Annuity Calculator & Hybrid Annuity Calculator
  • Blog
    • Annuity Guys® Weekly Annuity Video Blogs
  • Get Annuity Guys Help
    • Request Annuity Guys’ Planning Help Today
You are here: Home / Archives for Financial Objectives

How to Get Rid of a Bad Annuity

September 28, 2012 By Annuity Guys®

Do you think you made a bad decision on an annuity purchase in the past? Do you think you’re stuck due to surrenders and penalties?  What are your options?

Dick and Eric examine the options that most annuity owners do not know about to possibly move out of an annuity that was misrepresented or one that no longer fits their financial objectives.

[embedit snippet=”video-specialist-button”]

 

**Guarantees, including optional benefits, are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuer, and may contain limitations, including surrender charges, which may affect policy values. During this segment, Dick and Eric are referring to Fixed Annuities unless otherwise specified.

It should be noted that prior to surrendering or replacing any annuity, careful consideration of all features, penalties and financial goals of the consumer should be evaluated — this is not a decision to be taken lightly.

Annuity Guys® Video Transcript:

Eric: Today we’re going to talk about how to get rid of a bad annuity. Well Dick, is there such thing as a bad annuity?

Dick: Unfortunately, Eric, there are some bad annuities.

Eric: Oh no, don’t tell me that.

Dick: Just like any other investment you can make a bad decision. You can buy a bad annuity. The best way I’ve found, to not have to get rid of a bad annuity, is just not to buy one.

Eric: If you don’t make the mistake upfront, you don’t have to suffer the consequences.

Dick: Right, right, right. So folks do you research, watch our videos, watch other videos. Just read, look at what’s out there, and just use some good judgment.

Eric: Well, that’s a nice summation. Are we done?

Dick: That’s the video.

Eric: Well, I guess we should define when we talk about bad annuities; it’s really a personal situation. It’s you end up with an annuity that doesn’t fit your financial goals or your objectives.

Dick: And it is possible that your financial goals or objectives change, so maybe the annuity wasn’t bad originally.

Eric: It’s just bad now.

Dick: It’s bad now and the other thing that we find happens, not so much recently as over maybe the past few years the annuities, folks, have went through quite an evolution, and we believe have reached kind of a level.

Where they’ve; I won’t say they’ve plateaued, but they’ve come out with these innovative riders, income riders; they’ve become very competitive with each other and we’ve kind of seen what would seem to be a leveling off of what we could expect for any of these annuities.

Eric: Yeah, and the nice thing is its innovation.

Dick: Yes.

Eric: You’ve got companies, there’s competition for your dollars, they want to design the best product that one, creates a need or satisfies a need for you, and those strategies make you money, make the company money, and that’s really what they’re designed for.

Dick: And unfortunately, if you were one of the early ones in, buying the annuities that were available four or five years ago and you compare it to what’s on the market today, with the contractual **guarantees, you may be a little disappointed.

Eric: It’s buyer’s envy I guess, so if I own one that I bought five, six, seven years ago and it’s not meeting my needs…

Dick: Or let’s say it does meet your needs somewhat, but not as good as some of the newer generations.

Eric: All right, so you want to tackle all these? So I’ve got one of these, how do I go about deciding what’s the next step? First of all, can I get out of a bad annuity?

Dick: Well, the answer to that is always it’s your money and it’s your decision.

Eric: And it may depend on your annuity, if you bought an immediate annuity most of the time…

Dick: That’s true, that’s true, yes.

Eric: That’s my one caveat, that if you own the immediate you pretty much…

Dick: You’ve given up your lump sum, so it is your annuity.

Eric: And that’s why we always talk about that being a make sure that’s the right decision, because usually that’s it.

Dick: So if it’s a deferred annuity there could be some extenuating circumstances, first of all. If it was really genuinely a situation, where that annuity was truly misrepresented to you; it was not what you thought you were buying; there could be some aspects of going back to the company, going back to the agent, but again, this has to be fairly well-documented. That it was misrepresented. So in those situations if it was truly not suitable, it was misrepresented, it is possible that the company would allow you to get out of the annuity with no penalty, also the possibility of litigation, that type of thing, or going through the state insurance department if it was misrepresented, but let’s just say that it was not.

Eric: It was just what was available at the time and it’s it sounded good at the time. How many times have we made a decision based off of this sounded like a good decision at the time and it might have been the best available at the time.

Dick: And now interest rates are low. Maybe your interest rates have dropped on the annuity. The cap rates have dropped. You didn’t get one of the income riders that are now available, so you don’t have those contractual **guarantees. Well, one of the things that I think that you want to look at first of all is how close are you to maturity? Will that annuity be maturing, and all of the surrender charges will be gone soon?

Eric: Now and when we talk about maturity and this is always an interesting thing when I talk about it with consumers, because they say “Well, do I lose my income at the end of that contractual, that maturity period?” Really, it’s a surrender time frame typically is what that contract. You can continue past that surrender schedule period. That annuity’s designed to keep going and going and going until…

Dick: Right, they still have contractual **guarantees in place for the client, even though the money is available surrender and penalty free.

Eric: Right, so when we’re talking about maturity in this case we’re talking about when there are no more penalties that will be incurred by basically, surrender charges.

Dick: So if you feel that your annuity is not what you really wanted, you’re only maybe a year or two away from being out of surrender charges, you may want to wait until that couple of year’s passes. You’ll also have some other alternatives. Even if you’re fairly new into the annuity, within a few years or so into the annuity, there’s things that you can look at, which could be an offset to the annuity that you have, and the surrender penalties, if the new annuity that you were looking at has a bonus or a market value adjustment.

Eric: Now and this is where market value adjustments are really kind of an interesting not well kind of…

Dick: Not well understood.

Eric: … understood. Even by some agents. I mean we’ve seen people that have had problems with understanding them and really they work in two ways.

Dick: Yes.

Eric: They can be and basically they work as an offset, for the insurance company in case of the change of rates, so what we’ve seen is they can either be, in addition to the contract at the time of surrender or a subtraction. Now if the interest rates have gone up…

Dick: They’re typically then going to add to your surrender charge.

Eric: Right, and if the rates have gone down, then we’ve seen here in the last few years…

Dick: Then you would have a positive MVA, where your surrender charge is actually reduced by a fairly large amount on the MVA.

Eric: And I know personally we’ve seen this happen. So it actually creates an opportunity for some people at times, when they’ve had an annuity that they’re not real happy with, and if things have gotten you think, surprisingly if they’ve gotten worse, there’s usually sometimes an opportunity to offset that surrender with that MVA, and the MVA is not the Motor Vehicle Association.

Dick: No, it’s not.

Eric: It is a market value adjustment, which is a mouthful.

Dick: And not all annuities have market value adjustment, so you have to look at the type of annuity. When I say the type of annuity, an indexed annuity, a fixed annuity, all of those can have market value adjustments, but not all do.

Eric: Right, so when we’re talking about this in relationship usually, it’s on a fixed or a fixed index and that’s because of what they’re using to reserve. So they’ve purchased bonds and that’s sitting behind it, and so if they have to sell them early that’s the reason usually most insurance companies use them, market value adjustment.

Dick: And the reason, another reason folks, why they have the market value adjustment is the annuities that do not have a market value adjustment on the annuity, typically cannot pay as high a rate or have as many **guarantees, as the one that has a market value adjustment. They have more latitude in terms of getting higher rates or better **guarantees, so that’s a good reason to use an annuity with a market value adjustment.

Eric: Sure. So there is one way to get rid of a bad annuity possibly, even that still has a surrender involved, because you still may have an offset from an MVA.

Dick: Exactly. Another is the new bonus or a bonus from a new annuity. So that if you have a considerable bonus from the new annuity that can help to offset some of the surrender, combine that with an MVA and the advantages of the new annuity if it makes financial sense, then it can be worth doing.

Eric: And that should be qualified. We’re not suggesting you would transfer from one bad product into another bad product.

Dick: Of course.

Eric: It’s got to meet your financial needs and this would only be something we’d recommend, if you’ve got something that’s not working, it doesn’t fit, this is an area where you can explore some options to basically, see if there’s something better out there.

Dick: Right. Unfortunately, it is a possibility that someone, Eric, would get involved in a bad annuity, and so there has to be different ways that someone could go about alleviating that situation.

Eric: Right and one of the things we’re talking about is using, usually a transfer of an annuity. We’re not talking about doing a withdrawal, and then rolling it into another one, though those are all options, but to avoid bigger taxation penalties even, we’ll typically look at transferring from one annuity company to another. So those things will keep you out of taxation penalties.

Dick: Yes, so I think that probably the best way to really avoid a bad annuity in the first place is to buy a good annuity. Do your research. Make certain that it is going to meet your objectives, and then, even if the newer generation annuity does come along, and does have a few additional advantages, if the original annuity that you set up met your retirement objectives, then there should still be some merit there and some good basis for why that was chosen.

Eric: Exactly, and you don’t want to just throw something. You don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water I guess is the saying, and so make sure you’re not making just a rash decision to get something else.

Dick: That’s right.

Eric: And that’s why these annuities do have surrender charges, they do have these pieces, because they are designed to be long term, lifetime income generating products.

Dick: Make you think twice about messing up your retirement by ending your IRA or your annuity and that’s why these penalties are there.

Eric: Right, so as we say, you usually only get to do retirement once, so do it right.

Dick: That’s right. There are no do-overs in retirement. Thank you.

Eric: Thank you.

Filed Under: Annuity Commentary, Annuity Guys Video, Annuity Safety, Annuity Scams Tagged With: annuities, Annuity, Bad Annuities, Bad Decision, Financial Objectives, Life Annuity, Options, retirement

 

Empowering Annuity Reference Book

 
DOWN-LOAD NOW - FREE!
  • Annuity Guys Reference Book - 250 pages of Annuity Facts

  • "The New Retirement"
    Annuity Reference Book 
    Free Instant Download
  • Confidential - Easy Opt Out
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

 

  • Choosing Annuity Specialists, Local or National? Which are Best?

    Choosing Annuity Specialists, Local or National? Which are Best?

    There has been a huge shift of folks leaving local brokers and advisors to find better investment options online with …Read More »
  • Enjoy Annuity Income While Maintaining Your Principal!

    Enjoy Annuity Income While Maintaining Your Principal!

    You can’t have your cake and eat it too… or can you?When it comes to choosing annuities, most folks want steady growth and …Read More »
  • Stop Annuity Procrastination: New Years Resolution!

    Stop Annuity Procrastination: New Years Resolution!

    Procrastination – or the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lower priority.We always hear of people who spend more …Read More »

Revealing Fun Video: Fiduciary Advisors Vs. Annuity Salesmen
MUST KNOW FACTS 90% of
ANNUITY ADVISORS AVOID TELLING!
  • *FIDUCIARY RETIREMENT REVIEWS
    Second Opinions Improve Retirements
     
    "For Your Retirement's Success"
     Choose a *Fiduciary Advisor who gives you Full Disclosure of Cost & Selection.
     
    Material Fact 1:
      About 90% of advisors ARE NOT REQUIRED by law to do what is best for their clients!
     
    Material Fact 2:
     Fiduciary Advisors ARE REQUIRED by law to do what's best for their clients! 
     
      Hence, clients of a fiduciary can know that their advisor chose the highest legal standard required by law to work strictly for their highest good.
     
     We estimate Fiduciaries are less than 10% of total U.S. financial service providers. Fiduciaries are held to the highest client legal standard of financial planning and investment advice.
     
     The other 90% are sales oriented advisors, brokers, bank reps, registered reps. & insurance agents, selling products on a much lower suitability legal standard, not necessarily what's best for their client!
     
       Fiduciaries also must disclose conflicts of interest that could potentially bias their advice, such as; selling products that pay them higher commissions having higher fees or costs, and their lack of investment product access limiting their client's opportunities, to name a few.
     
    Choosing your advisor can have
    "The Largest Single Impact on
    Your Retirement's Success or Failure"


  • Hybrid Annuities as an Inflation Hedge

    Hybrid Annuities as an Inflation Hedge

    Inflation – this one word strikes terror in the hearts of many retirees on a fixed income.Never to fear, we have a cost of …Read More »
  • Turning Your 401k into Retirement Income

    Turning Your 401k into Retirement Income

    “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” While Benjamin Franklin was probably not referring to what he …Read More »
  • Why You Should Ladder Annuities…

    Why You Should Ladder Annuities…

    When your financial advisor starts to talk to you about laddering, realize that they are talking to you about using …Read More »
  • Can Annuities Enhance Stock Market Investing?

    Can Annuities Enhance Stock Market Investing?

    The stock market is well known for its roller coaster effect of up and down account values. For many retirees, this can mean more than …Read More »
  • Are Annuities a Good Choice in a Low Interest Rate Environment?

    Are Annuities a Good Choice in a Low Interest Rate Environment?

    One of the questions we have heard asked quite a bit lately, “Is it the right time to buy an …Read More »
  • Annuity Diversification – What Amount Per Company?

    Annuity Diversification – What Amount Per Company?

    You may have invested, scrimped, and saved most of your life for just this moment. Yes, you are ready to …Read More »
  • Who Should Choose Annuities?

    Who Should Choose Annuities?

    What type of individual chooses to purchase an annuity?Is there a stereotypical annuity enthusiast? Maybe not – however, we know …Read More »
  • Is One Million in Annuities or Securities Enough to Retire On?

    Is One Million in Annuities or Securities Enough to Retire On?

    If I had a million dollars, I’d be rich… but, would I be rich enough to retire for 30 plus …Read More »

View Our Newest Videos! Subscribe Now
  • Annuity Guys Videos - Annuity Answers
  • New Annuity Guys Videos
    Our Entertaining & Informative
     Saturday Morning Video Blog
  • Timely Retirement & Annuity Issues - Easy Opt Out
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


  • Five Annuity Obstacles to Overcome

    Five Annuity Obstacles to Overcome

    Purchasing an annuity for retirement can be a difficult and stressful decision. For many people this means re-positioning a portion of their retirement assets as …Read More »
  • Are Annuities a Better Answer for The Impending Correction?

    Are Annuities a Better Answer for The Impending Correction?

    Sir Isaac Newton said it best, “What goes up must come down.” Even this booming V shaped recovery is no …Read More »
  • Are Annuities Good or Bad?

    In and of themselves, annuities just like any other investment are not technically good or bad. An annuity can, however, …Read More »
  • Why are Markets and Annuity Sales at All Time Highs?

    Why are Markets and Annuity Sales at All Time Highs?

    Equity markets increasing and annuity sales increasing at the same time is a little like cats and dogs playing together. …Read More »
  • How Do MarketFree™ Annuities Work?

    As you consider your overall strategy for retirement planning, one financial product to consider is a MarketFree® annuity. There are many …Read More »
  • 100% Money Back Annuity **Guarantees!

    100% Money Back Annuity **Guarantees!

    Most big ticket purchase come with a warranty or a **guarantee – including annuities. Did you know that all annuities …Read More »
  • Optimizing Annuity Income for Retirement

    Optimizing Annuity Income for Retirement

    If we only had a nickel for every phone call that came into the office which started out like this…“Hello, This is …Read More »
  • Are You Too Young or Old to Purchase an Annuity?

    Are You Too Young or Old to Purchase an Annuity?

    What is the best age to purchase an annuity?There have been a plethora of articles and reports about unscrupulous agents …Read More »
Get Newly Released Annuity Guys® Videos on Saturday Mornings
  • Annuity Guys Videos - Annuity Answers
  • New Annuity Guys Videos
    Our Entertaining & Informative
     Saturday Morning Video Blog
  • Timely Retirement & Annuity Issues - Easy Opt Out
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


  • Are 8 Percent Annuity Returns in 2025 Too Good to be True?

    Are 8 Percent Annuity Returns in 2025 Too Good to be True?

    Annuity Salesman asks:  “How would you like an eight percent compounded return? -Guaranteed!” Misled customer replies, “Where do I sign-up?”Is …Read More »
  • Can a Hybrid Annuity Uncapped Index Pay Higher Interest?

    Can a Hybrid Annuity Uncapped Index Pay Higher Interest?

    Should annuity buyers be giddy because they can own an annuity with no limiting upside cap and of market loss? Well, maybe, …Read More »
  • Annuity Scams – Fear Factor or Reality?

    Annuity Scams – Fear Factor or Reality?

    The Internet is full of warnings and alerts about annuity scams that create the appearance of  industry run amok with …Read More »
  • Hybrid Annuity Sales Hit All Time Highs! Do You Know Why?

    Hybrid Annuity Sales Hit All Time Highs! Do You Know Why?

    Record numbers of retirees and savers are flocking to fixed and fixed index annuities – why?For many baby boomers , the great …Read More »
  • Understanding Immediate Annuities

    Understanding Immediate Annuities

    Today, people are living longer than ever before. While the idea of living a longer (and hopefully healthier) life is …Read More »
  • How Much Income Can You Withdraw Safely in Retirement?

    How Much Income Can You Withdraw Safely in Retirement?

    A Reuter’s article hit our desk recently. It’s based on a “safe withdrawal rate” during retirement (safe being relative since we’re …Read More »
  • Can Hybrid Annuities Beat Market Returns?

    Can Hybrid Annuities Beat Market Returns?

    Do you remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? Hybrid annuities might be compared to the tortoise in …Read More »
  • Annuity Fees – The Nasty Truth

    Annuity Fees – The Nasty Truth

    The conventional press has maligned annuities for years due to high fees and surrender charges, as well they should… when …Read More »
  • Stocks, Bonds and Annuities – How Much in Each?

    Stocks, Bonds and Annuities – How Much in Each?

    Remember making decisions this way, growing up, eeny, meeny, miny, moe, this may have been a helpful rhyme for making …Read More »
  • Five Annuity Obstacles to Overcome

    Five Annuity Obstacles to Overcome

    Purchasing an annuity for retirement can be a difficult and stressful decision. For many people this means re-positioning a portion of their retirement assets as …Read More »

 

Empowering Annuity Reference Book

 
Start Reading Now - Instant Download
  • Annuity Guys Reference Book - 250 pages of Annuity Facts

  • "The New Retirement"
    Annuity Reference Book 
    Free Instant Download
  • Confidential - Easy Opt Out
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

 
Comprehensive Site Terms and Disclosure | Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2025 Annuity Guys®


  ** Guarantees, including optional benefits, are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuer, and may contain limitations, including surrender charges, which may affect policy values. Annuities are not FDIC insured and it is possible to lose money.
Annuities are insurance products that require a premium to be paid for purchase.
Annuities do not accept or receive deposits and are not to be confused with bank issued financial instruments.
During all video segments, Dick and Eric are referring to Fixed Annuities unless otherwise specified.


  *Retirement Planning and annuity purchase assistance may be provided by Eric Judy or by referral to a recommended, experienced, Fiduciary Investment Advisor in helping Annuity Guys website visitors. Dick Van Dyke semi-retired from his Investment Advisory Practice in 2012 and now focuses on this educational Annuity Guys Website. He still maintains his insurance license in good standing and assists his current clients.
Annuity Guys' vetted and recommended Fiduciary Financial Planners are required to be properly licensed in assisting clients with their annuity and retirement planning needs. (Due diligence as a client is still always necessary when working with any advisor to check their current standing.)



  # Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of a variable annuity and its underlying investment options. The current prospectus and underlying prospectuses, which are contained in the same document, provide this and other important information. Please contact an Investment Professional or the issuing Company to obtain the prospectuses. Please read the prospectuses carefully before investing or sending money.


  ^ Investors should consider investment objectives, risk, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. This and other important information is contained in the fund prospectuses and summary prospectuses, which can be obtained from a financial professional and should be read carefully before investing.


  ^ Eric Judy offers advisory services through Client One Securities, LLC an Investment Advisor. Annuity Guys Ltd. and Client One Securities, LLC are not affiliated.