For those of you who use inbound call leads, what vendor do you use and what has your experience using inbound leads been like? It seems like there are a plethora of different vendors to choose from.

Brand new agent recruited by AIL. What can I expect? Is there real opportunity? Anyone have experience with both working for or with them?

As an agent who has spent over a decade teaching agents about annuities, one thing I see a lot with annuities is people getting focused on the biggest number in the presentation.

“20% bonus.” “10% guaranteed roll-up.” “Guaranteed income growth.”

Those numbers sound great, but by themselves they really do not tell you much.

If the goal is retirement income, the better question is simple, how much income does this actually pay me? That is what matters.

3 numbers I find important to look at

Most income riders come down to three things:

1. Your starting income benefit base
2. Any bonus or roll-up that increases that benefit base
3. The payout rate

That third one gets overlooked all the time by agents (which leads to clients not knowing either). And it can completely change which annuity is actually better.

First, the income benefit base is not your cash value (account value)

This is probably the biggest thing people misunderstand.

Say you put $1,000,000 into an annuity and it gives you a 20% income bonus.

Now your income benefit base might show $1,200,000. That does not usually mean you can cash out $1.2 million. It means the insurance company is using $1.2 million as the number to calculate your future income from.

So when someone says: “You got a 20% bonus.” The next question should be “Okay, what does that actually pay me?”

Same thing with the roll-up rate

Let's say the annuity has an 8% guaranteed roll-up. That can sound like the account is earning 8%. Usually, that is not what is happening because the 8% may only be growing the income benefit base.

So your actual account value could be one number, while your income benefit base is a completely different number.

Again, that is not necessarily bad.

You just need to know what the number actually means.

The payout rate is where it all comes together

Here is a simple example.

Annuity A:

$1,000,000 income benefit base
6% payout rate

This gives you: $60,000 per year

Now look at Annuity B:

$1,000,000 deposit
20% income bonus

Now the income benefit base is: $1,200,000... Sounds better so far.
But the payout rate is only 4%.

$1,200,000 x 4% = $48,000 per year

So, the annuity with the big 20% bonus actually pays $12,000 less per year.

That is why I do not get too excited about bonuses by themselves.

Bigger income base does not always mean more income

Here is another example.

Annuity A:
$1,500,000 income benefit base
4% payout
Income = $60,000 per year

Annuity B:
$1,250,000 income benefit base
5.5% payout
Income = $68,750 per year

The second annuity has a smaller benefit base, but it pays more actual income.

That is the number I care about.

Look at the total payout too

I also like looking at how much income someone could receive over time.

If one annuity pays $60,000 per year and another pays $48,000 per year, that difference adds up.

Over 20 years:
$60,000 x 20 = $1,200,000
$48,000 x 20 = $960,000

That is a $240,000 difference in total income.

Suddenly that big upfront bonus does not look quite as important.

The easy way to think about it

When comparing annuity income riders, do not just ask “What is the bonus?” or “What is the guaranteed roll-up rate?”

Ask “What will my income benefit base be when I start taking income?”, “What payout rate applies at that age?”, “And what does that actually pay me every year?”

That gets you much closer to the real answer.

There are still other things to compare

Income is important, but it is not the only thing.

You still want to look at things like:

• single vs joint income
• when you plan to start income
• rider fees
• surrender period
• liquidity
• account value
• death benefit
• whether income can increase
• what happens if you take extra withdrawals

But if the whole reason you are buying the annuity is for guaranteed retirement income, then the actual income amount should probably be pretty high on the list.

Please just remember

• A bigger bonus does not automatically mean a better annuity.
• A bigger roll-up rate does not automatically mean a better annuity.
• A bigger income benefit base does not automatically mean a better annuity.
• What matters is what all of those numbers turn into when the income starts.
• Benefit base x payout rate = actual income.

That is the number worth comparing.

Educational discussion only, as there are many factors by carriers, states, client age etc. All of the annuity income riders, bonuses, roll-up rates, payout rates, fees, and guarantees vary by company and contract.

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I recently switched from selling life insurance mainly final expense.I had no support,no real systems,terrible up-line,and chargebacks like crazy.I now run a health insurance agency of about 30 guys.We sell health supplementals on live transfers provided by the agency.Hourly pay,commissions,and real systems to be profitable.If you are in any sales looking for new opportunity Dm me let’s talk.

What is the biggest amount of debt you’ve ever had? What did you do to get through it?

I know this question may have been asked a million times before me, but I wanna know.

Please save yourself some time and don't give me the cookie cutter answers like: referrals, cold calls, through your friends, loved ones, neighbours, colleagues, friends and things like that.

I live in Romania so we have a very poor country compared to USA which I assume most of you here are from and the average Romanian doesn't have the same knowledge, culture and financial discipline as an American does. 99% want the cheapest, no information, no financial consulting, no nothing, they buy the cheapest online, most through eMag and then they become upset the insurance company doesn't cover their losses whenever they have a car accident, because they put their information wrong or didn't read the contract. So... bear that in mind.

I really want to do a paid ad campaign on Google business, it's kinda expensive, but I want to invest because I know without investing something you can never get anything out of anything and I wanna do this because I ran out of options. What is your opinion on this?

Thank you all in advance!