Quite a few people will try to avoid annuities because they think they are scams. This is a mistake because there many excellent annuity products that can benefit investors out there.
The real reason people get ripped off by these schemes is not that annuities are bad. Instead it is that they don’t know how to shop for investments properly. The vast majority of the victims would still have their money if they had simply used a little common sense and done some basic research on the products.
There are many steps that a person can take to avoid annuity frauds. Most of them involve nothing but prudent investing and caution.
Take Your Time
Almost all investment scams have one thing in common: the con artist tries to rush the buyer into making a quick decision. They want you to sign on the dotted line and hand them a check without reading the paperwork or finding out what you are getting into.
Always take a lot of time when making a decision about an investment such as an annuity. Take several weeks or months to research the product. When you talk to an agent ask if you can take the paperwork home and read it on your own. Legitimate salespeople will have no problem with this.
Never be afraid or ashamed to take the policy to another agent and show it to them. In many cases you can get a better deal by letting them know you’re talking to the competition.
Always compare policies to other offers to see what the better offer is. In many cases this is the fastest way to spot overpriced policies and unnecessary fees. If annuity A and annuity B are essentially the same product, but annuity A costs twice as much as annuity B, you’re probably dealing with some sort of scam.
Some Signs of Annuity Related Scams
Sometimes the best and easiest way to spot an annuity scam is in the way a product is being sold. There is often a vast difference in the sales techniques used by a legitimate investment advisor or agent and those used by a con man.
Always be leery of persons that come up to you with investment advice or stories of a great new annuity at social gatherings, church, work and elsewhere. Also be skeptical if a friend, relative, coworker, business associate or acquaintance tries to get you to buy annuities from someone. Investment related con artists often take advantage of such social relationships and the trust they engender.
There are con artists who actually participate in activities like religious worship and use them as a venue to sell questionable investments. Be very leery of anybody particularly a strangers who tries to talk you into any sort of investment at any sort of social gathering. Most legitimate investment advisors have plenty of customers, so they don’t need to go out and push their products in social situations.
If you hear about a great new annuity at the club or church, don’t take the word of the person pushing it go and research it yourself. If an investment is for real there should be information available about it that you can easily access.
Another sure sign that there’s something wrong with an investment is that it is hard to get information about it. Don’t assume something is a scam just because you haven’t heard about it before. There are many excellent annuity companies and great annuity products the average investor isn’t aware of. On the other hand it is very easy to learn about these products through websites like this one: freeannuityrates.com.
If you can’t find out anything about an annuity or the company that issues it without going through the person selling it avoid that product. Chances are the reason there’s no background available is that somebody has something to hide. On a side note, if you decide to go with a fixed annuity, be sure to lock in your fixed annuity ratesearly, rates tend to rise.