(New York)

The huge market volatility that accompanied COVID has laid the state of American retirement very bare. Not only are countless people under-capitalized for retirement, but many pulled money out in March, missed the big recovery and are now sitting with considerably smaller portfolios. This has led even the most ardent anti-Annuities advisors—mostly RIAs—to start recommending the products to some clients. Annuities can lock in income that is very hard to get elsewhere right now given ultra-low rates. Annuities ae complicated products and there are many different varieties, ranging from immediate income to variable annuities to fixed income annuities with income riders. For fixed index annuities, check out joint-life policies from Protective Life, Minnesota Life, and Delaware life. For variable annuities, look at Jackson National Life, Transamerica life, and Brighthouse Financial.

FINSUM: Annuities can be a good choice right now depending on the state of a client’s preparedness for retirement and the other assets in their portfolios. Just pay attention to the fact that most annuities providers have significantly cut payouts recently because of the Fed’s actions on rates.