AUTILOGIX
Sign InStart Free →
Free

The commission is baked into a number they never show you.

Fixed, indexed, variable, and income annuities each solve a different problem and can’t be judged by one universal percentage. This guide walks the full sequence — classify the product, verify the seller, separate every value, and know exactly when to stop and get professional review.

Download the free guide

There is no quick calculator on this page, on purpose. A fixed-rate MYGA, an indexed annuity, a variable annuity, and a lifetime-income contract are different products with different math, different risks, and different fee structures. A single percentage-based tool would get at least one of them wrong. This guide teaches you the sequence to work through with your own contract, a financial professional, or both.

Ask these six questions before you buy, exchange, or surrender anything

Get the answers in writing. The first two expose capacity and incentive; the rest stop a seller from comparing different products as though they were interchangeable.

  1. In what legal capacity are you acting for this recommendation, and what standard applies to it?
  2. How are you, your firm, and any affiliate paid if I follow this recommendation?
  3. What exact product is this -- fixed, MYGA, FIA, RILA, variable, SPIA, DIA, or another form -- and is it a security?
  4. Show every explicit fee, every fee base, every surrender or market-value adjustment, and every cap, spread, or participation rate.
  5. What reasonably available alternatives did you compare, including keeping my current plan or contract?
  6. What existing benefit, tax attribute, liquidity right, death benefit, income base, or guarantee do I lose if I move?

The full sequence

Define the need and the product (Steps 1–5)
  • Identify the actual goal first: accumulation, principal protection, lifetime income, legacy, tax deferral, or a planning service. Don't start with a product name.
  • Classify the exact product -- fixed/MYGA, FIA, RILA, variable annuity, SPIA, or DIA. These cannot be evaluated with one universal calculator.
  • Identify the seller's legal capacity: investment adviser, broker, insurance producer, or more than one.
  • Get the compensation statement in writing: commission, trail, AUM fee, flat fee, spread, bonus, or revenue sharing.
  • Collect the controlling documents: contract, prospectus where applicable, illustration, disclosures, surrender schedule, and rider terms.
Separate the values and the fees (Steps 6–10)
  • Never merge account value, cash surrender value, tax basis, death benefit, and benefit base. They are different numbers.
  • Extract every explicit fee and exactly what dollar base each percentage applies to.
  • Never add percentages that use different fee bases -- calculate dollars by fee instead.
  • Check the surrender schedule, market-value adjustment, and withdrawal restrictions. Don't rely on the free-withdrawal percentage alone.
  • For qualified retirement money, an IRA or 401(k) is already tax-advantaged -- ask what non-tax benefit justifies the annuity's cost and restrictions.
Compare the specific product type (Steps 11–17)
  • Fixed/MYGA: compare matched carrier quotes -- rate, term, maturity value, surrender terms, and insurer. Don't compare a MYGA against a lifetime-income product; they solve different jobs.
  • FIA: model the actual crediting formula -- cap, participation rate, spread, and index method. Don't substitute the headline index return.
  • RILA: model both the upside limit and the downside exposure. A RILA can lose money.
  • Variable annuities: run periodic fee-drag scenarios using the actual fees and fee bases, not one generic annual percentage.
  • SPIA/DIA: analyze the income itself -- payout option, break-even age, survival-age returns -- rather than calling the payout rate an investment return.
  • Living-benefit riders: compare the guaranteed benefit base against actual cash value, and model what happens if the account value is depleted.
  • Advisor fees: calculate the actual annual dollar cost, including tiered AUM breakpoints and underlying fund costs.
Stress-test and verify before acting (Steps 18–23)
  • Compare like with like: matched risk, guarantees, liquidity, tax status, and quote date. Otherwise, look at separate scenarios, not a declared winner.
  • Stress-test liquidity: what you'd actually receive at several plausible exit dates, including surrender charges and lost benefits.
  • Treat any replacement or 1035 exchange as its own decision. A lower annual fee alone never justifies an exchange.
  • Verify the seller and insurer through the appropriate registry -- state insurance department, IAPD, or BrokerCheck.
  • If basis, ownership, surrender value, or compensation can't be established, the right move is verification or professional review -- not a decision.

Hard stops -- stop and get professional or legal review

  • The seller won’t state capacity or compensation in writing.
  • A guaranteed-living-benefit base is presented as though it were cash you can withdraw.
  • Fees are quoted without a fee base or the underlying product costs.
  • A replacement is sold as automatically better because it’s a 1035 exchange.
  • A qualified-plan rollover is justified mainly by “extra tax deferral” with no other benefit identified.
  • Current caps or participation rates are presented as guaranteed for the life of the contract.
  • You’re getting a personalized buy/sell/surrender/exchange recommendation without enough information to support it.

They engineered the trick. We engineered the remedy.

Free. Take the guide and the worksheet with you.

Download the free guide

← Back to Remedy