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Annuity Giants - Training & Consulting, 3890 Charlevoix Road Suite 220, Petoskey, MI (2026)

10/16/2026

Annuities That Suck

Here's just a few:

1. Any Annuity that has an income rider, but to get higher guaranteed income, it requires the policy to perform. We call these performance based income products.

2. Annuities that use overly complex designs as smoke & mirrors. The reality is, it's all just a marketing ploy to dress up a dog.

3. Annuities with fees over 2%... never necessary - unless the income was #1, which that is never the case.

4. Annuities with income riders & death benefit riders, on the same product. Completely counteract each other in such an idiotic way.

What did I miss?

10/15/2026

‼️ Things You Need To Know About Annuities: PART 10 ‼️

Answer: Hidden? No, it's all disclosed in those super easy to read 50+ page contracts. (sarcasm on the easy part) 🙄

But are there fees, costs, and penalties?
Yes, but in many different forms, so let's talk about them.

First, let me just go ahead and say that if your annuity has any type of fee, ask yourself (or agents you ask this before you sell it) , "What problem is that fee helping me solve through a benefit for the costs?"

If it doesn't help solve a problem, then it's creating one.

🌀 FEES

Standard Account Fee: Simple... the account value is charged a % (normally a flat fee) yearly. This could come in different forms in a Variable Annuity, but it could also be an advisory product and that fee goes to the agent/advisor who sold it.

Rider Fee: Essentially this is the same structure as an Account Fee, a % of the account value, but its specifically for a rider on that policy. You are paying for a specific benefit. The most common one would be an Income Rider (GLWB).

Index Option Fee: These fees are normally voluntary. Some advisors would call them "Buy Up" fees. You pay a yearly fee to allocate in that index and in return you will get a higher rate (Cap, Par, or Lower Spread). An example would be that a standard Index may have a cap of 10% but for a 1% fee it goes to 13%.

🌀 COSTS

Spread: A spread is a cost you pay on an underlying index when that index has a return. If an index returns 0, you don't pay a Spread. When an index returns 10% and had a 2% Spread, you make 8% and give up the other 2%.

Cap: A cap rate will only pay you the index performance up to a cap. I would say the cost here is that you are not getting the full upside (Yes I know an annuity isn't designed that way, but its still a cost).

Participation Rate: This is a % you are credited on an indexes performance. If you had a 50% participation rate and the index made 10%, you would make 5%. So again, you aren't getting the full upside unless the par is at 100%.

(You can have Annuities that have an index with all of these overlapping. You can also have uncapped, 100% par, and no fee indexes as well).

🌀 PENALTIES

Surrender Charge: This comes in the form of a % of the account and correlates with the length of the contract. Let's say someone purchased a 5 year annuity and wanted to move it all at year 3. In this example let's say the charge is 3%, so when they move the money, the insurance company takes 3% of the account value.

Withdrawals Over The Free Amount: This is normally associated with making withdrawals that are higher than the free amount. If the free amount is 10% and you take 15%, that 5% over the free amount will be charged the surrender charge penalty mentioned above.

Commissions: Although a commission does not come out of a policy owners account value, it comes in the form "Potentially Better Rates". We see this in the D2C market.

The More You Know.... 🧠

10/13/2026

‼️ Things You Need To Know About Annuities: PART 9 ‼️

(Accumulation Focused)

🐘 I want to talk about the elephant in the room and get it out of the way before doing this comparison.

An FIA commission is around a 7% average compared to a MYGA being around 2%. So understand that when someone advocates for an FIA over a MYGA, is it motivated by the money ... or are they making valid points?

OK, now that that's out if the way, it's important to breakdown the main strengths and weaknesses of both:

▶️ MYGA - This product can be fantastic for straight conservative accumulation. With today's rates offering 5.50% to 6.00% + for up to 10 years, it's hard to compete.
Why?
Because it's a flat linear rate of return. That is very powerful. (See previous sequence of returns post).

It's simple. It's a set of known variables from start to finish which is easy for planning purposes and can achieve a lot of accumulation and withdrawal goals for a period of time.

Here's the problem: 5% when the market does 15%, isn't sexy. So it's important to set that expectation that its NOT an equity.

REINVESTMENT RISK 🚩🚩: Probably the biggest concern. If someone is planning on that 6% return for more long term, and it comes due, what rate can you re-purchase at? How does that hurt your long term plan? or does it?

▶️ FIA - A LOT more variable come into play when choosing the right one for straight accumulation. Essentially MOST of these don't come with the longer term guarantees that a MYGA has, but they come with long term surrender periods most the time. The rates that are offered at issue can change year to year. This is why it's important to find good rate integrity within product and company.

Let's assume you have that variable solved and it's a 5% Fixed rate and 10% S&P cap.
Essentially you give up that extra fixed percent that a MYGA will offer, but in return have the potential for a 10% gain when the S&P grows to 10% or above.
The concern here is "when do you use the fixed vs indexed account?", and it's hard to find the sweet spot because it essentially involves timing the market.
But if you use the law of averages and stick to that cap, it should perform well between 6% to 8%.

Another highlight is that these can be flexible premium as well as Roth converted, and have extra rider benefits at no cost.

So who is right for which one ⁉️

In my opinion, I like the MYGA for a 3 to 6 year time horizon for conservative clients who want that level of guarantee.

I like FIA for 7 year + for the clients who are ok with giving up that higher fixed return rate for potentially more, but still no risk of losses. These are also normally clients that want a good rate for more long term.

We like to build out a ladder.

Example:
Client has 1mil they want in conservative growth. Maybe we build out 3yr and 5yr MYGA, 7yr FIA and 10yr FIA. Always making that 10 year flex premium for a fallback to solve reinvestment risk.

The more you know.... 🧠

10/08/2026

YOU ARE GOING TO WANT TO BE PART OF THIS!

We are covering Annuities Top to Bottom.

All in.
All out.

Every nook & cranny.

No stone left unturned.

You think you know Annuities? I would put that to the test...

I bet you learn a lot, or I will give you your money back, plus some.

Any takers?

Would love to see every Agent & Advisor who takes learning series, on theses calls.

it's going to be the best in the industry or my names not Tracy "The Annuity Giants" Lownsberry... :D (ok that was cheesy, but I'm amped!)

Let me know if you want a trial or discount code to check it out!

10/08/2026

‼️ Things You Need To Know About Annuities: PART 8 ‼️

My philosophy with an annuity that fits almost EVERY scenario (with exceptions) is using an Income Rider annuity to solve an absolute income NEED.

So lets say that Bob, 65yo has $200k in his 401k and he's about to retire and is in great health. When he retires he will have Social Security and his $200k to fund his retirement, and a little emergency fund in his checking around 10k. THATS IT. 🙅
Bob's bills exceed his Social Security by around $1,000 a month. He could probably cut out a few things, but not much. What do you do?

Using the 4% rule (or similar) and having that full $200k in a managed account, he doesn't get the income he needs. So if he decides to take that $1,000 a month, he will severely risk outliving that money.
(Don't argue that he can take more in a managed account, too many studies to prove you are wrong)
I constantly see these scenarios. Granted, with varying aspects, but the bottom line is similar.

💥💥 So what is the PRIMARY concern?
MAXIMIZE INCOME FROM THAT 200K! 💵💵

What will allow him to maximize withdrawals without risk of outliving those funds? Best thing on planet earth to solve this is:
AN ANNUITY (...but the right one...)

At todays rates Bob will be able to take around 8% at 65. This means $150k will get bob his $1,000 a month with $50k for inflation and essentially play money.

Is that over positioning him? "That's 75% of his assets Tracy!"
I get it...its more than I would like in an annuity, but Bob doesn't have time for "What If's", he NEEDS this level of guarantee.
So I'm going to throw as much of it as I can in there and give him that foundation to build from.

Now, what if he had more money? I am still always solving income needs with guarantees. Bottom line.
You can disagree but it allows the rest of his assets to grow uninterrupted which actually yields higher net returns. It's just math.

The More You Know.... 🧠

10/07/2026

There’s always more to learn when it comes to annuities.

Maybe you know the basics.

Maybe you’ve been selling annuities for years.

Maybe you’ve sat through trainings and still had moments where you thought, “I feel like I missed something.”

That’s exactly why Annuity Giants is launching our new LIVE training series:

Annuities from A to Z!

We’re going back through annuities from A to Z, filling in the gaps and building on the fundamentals along the way.

We’ll cover things like:

✅ The basics and the not-so-basics
✅ How annuities fit into a financial plan
✅ When an annuity does NOT fit
✅ Proper implementation and problem solving
✅ Real case design

And so much more...

The goal isn’t just to know more about products.

It’s to become more confident in why, when, and how you use them.

📅 LIVE every Wednesday at 4:00 PM EST
🔒 Available to Annuity Giants members only

Not a member yet?
Scan the QR code or VISIT US at www.theannuitygiants.com!

🔥 Use code AG2026 for your first month FREE

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Know the products. Understand the strategies. Use them with confidence.

10/06/2026

‼️ Things You Need To Know About Annuities: PART 7 ‼️

This is a bit of a trick questions because there are a lot of variables. Here are a few:

〰️ What type of Annuity?
〰️ Are there riders included?
〰️ What is the primary objective of that product? (Income? Legacy? Growth?)
〰️ What company are you using?
〰️ What Indexes are being used?
〰️ How long is the surrender period?

I am going to give a VERY GENERIC SUMMARY using what I believe to be the top products in each category:

1️⃣. Fixed Annuity (MYGA) - Whatever that fixed rate offering is, simple(5.50% to 6.30% right now).

2️⃣. Fixed Indexed Annuity (FIA) for Guaranteed Income - 2% to 3% Annually

3️⃣. FIA with Principal Bonus and No Income Rider - 4% to 5%

4️⃣. FIA with No Bonus, straight Accumulation - 6% to 8%

5️⃣. No one cares about RILA or VA.

The reason I use these numbers is because, I HAVE SEEN IT 👀. I have reviewed thousands of in force policies and spoke to experts all across the industry and that's the range we are seeing on policies.

I know agents will FLY in from the sidelines showing statements that are higher and blah blah blah, I get it. I am talking industry average, not your perfectly timed statement that was a complete one off.

When you illustrate these products, they should be in that range, NO MORE!

You always position the concept 1st, if that can't sell it, nothing will.
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆

The more you know! 🧠

10/01/2026

‼️ Things You Need To Know About Annuities: PART 6 ‼️

An Annuity has the ability to avoid Sequence of Returns (SOR) Risk.

If you are unfamiliar with the term or have never really dove into the power of it, here's an explanation and some examples. 👨‍🏫

SOR Risk is the risk associated with how having a negative return (or a few) can effect the net outcome of that investment over a period of time.

I always use 2 simple examples:

☑️ Example #1
If you had $1mil invested and that investment fell 30%, what are you at?
Answer - $700k
Now lets pretend the next year that same account gained 30% and you took no withdrawals, what are you at?
Answer - $1mil?
WRONG.

700k + 30% is not 1mil,
Equation is $700,000 x 1.30 = $910,000
You are 9% or 90k down. Why?

Because the return is not what you care about, its what your break even point is. When you dig a hole, you ALWAYS need more dirt to fill it back in, right? Same thing here.

☑️ Example #2 Using $100k
A 5% return average does NOT look like this in the market:

Year 1: 5.00%
Year 2: 5.00%
Year 3: 5.00%
Year 4: 5.00%
Year 5: 5.00%
➖ Final - $127,628

It's going to have an up and down sequence, so this is a more realistic example:

Year 1: 3.00%
Year 2: -6.00%
Year 3: 10.00%
Year 4: 8.00%
Year 5: 10.00%
Total Average 5%
➖ Final - $126,524

Same average but a different sequence. The sequence will always yield a lower result.
The more drastic the loss, the larger the gains needed to get back to break even.

2008 saw retirement accounts losing 50% in some cases. That would need a 100% Gain JUST TO BREAK EVEN. 😲
Now imagine you are retired and taking 4% to 6% out every year. Are you going to stop doing that to let your account recover? Probably not.

When an Annuity is used, you don't have that downside sequence, therefore it's easy to predict and use for a good yield with essentially no loss to principal + gains.

It's also what makes an Annuities Average Return VERY powerful.
A 6% annuity average vs a 6% equity average is very different. So the next time a prospective client turns their nose up at a 6% to 8% average return, show them how powerful that is without a negative sequence.

It's a great buffer to a managed portfolio if you use a MYGA (Fixed Rate for period of time) or FIA (Fixed and Index rates but has complete protection against loss)

The More You Know... 🧠

09/29/2026

‼️ Things You Need To Know About Annuities: PART 5 ‼️

A surrender period is a number of years that are set in an annuity contract where the annuitant would be penalized if they withdrew more than the free amount.
The schedule of a 5 year contract may look something like this:

🟢 Year 1 - 10% Penalty
🟢 Year 2 - 8% Penalty
🟢 Year 3 - 6% Penalty
🟢 Year 4 - 4% Penalty
🟢 Year 5 - 2% Penalty
🟢 Year 6 - 0% Penalty

I like to tell my clients that use annuities as buffers to equities that if your equity was down 30% and you needed a withdrawal that exceeded the 10% free withdrawal in your annuity contract, it may be better to eat a surrender penalty, than make a 30% realized loss. Make sure you gather all the facts before doing that.

But if this annuity has an attached Market Value Adjustment (MVA), it is subject to further penalties for early withdrawals above the free amount, but also possible credits!

Here's how it works 👇👇
Annuities are largely based on interest rates due to the costs and rate offerings being funded with the insurance companies Bond portfolio using Bond Yield To Maturity Rates.
So if an annuity has a 5 year surrender schedule, majority of that premium would go towards a 5 year Bond paying a YTM locked rate. That rate is then used to pay the options cost or fixed offering. Along with other investments in that companies portfolio.

So if an annuitant takes more money out of the policy than what is allowed, it means that the insurance company has to call that Bond early. When you call a Bond early it may be for LESS than what it was purchased at IF interest rates went up. It also may be worth MORE IF interest rates went down.

This is because Bonds have an inverse relationship with interest rates.

So an MVA protects the insurance company from realizing that potential loss. They are essentially passing that to the annuitant.
BUT they also pass the potential gain as well. An MVA can help offset surrender penalties to get out of a bad contract earlier with no penalty, or in some cases, a net GAIN, which I personally saw 10yr contracts that were 2 years old that were able to be surrendered for a net profit in the 2021 rate dip

This MVA ONLY applies during the surrender schedule.

The more you know... 🧠

09/24/2026

‼️ Things You Need To Know About Annuities: PART 4 ‼️

How does a "BONUS" really work inside of an annuity?

There are 2 types of bonuses an annuity will offer:
➡️ Account Value
➡️ Benefit Base / Income Base

An account value bonus is exactly that, it's applied to your account, meaning the principal used to fund the account.
This can "Vest" day 1 OR over a period of time.

What does that mean ❓❓
It means the bonus may not be accessible for a period of time. It shows up in the account and compounds on the interest earned, but if surrendered or using a withdrawal, it's not applied for a period of time (or at least not ALL of it).

A Benefit Base Bonus has to be the most MISLEADING sales tactic that carriers and agents use to sell a product.
In an annuity like a Fixed Indexed with Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit, they have an account that is what they use (in part) to Base the income rider Net Income off of.
This account can have a bonus , some being 40% .
So does that mean my income is 40% higher? NOPE.
This literally means nothing by itself and is really an idiotic marketing ploy.

🏅When you want to find the best income for your client, just remove all the bologna and find which carrier will take the age, amount, and deferral period, and give them the largest guarantees income to them.

How they calculate it is irrelevant.

The more you know... 🧠

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