September 3, 2008
-I have been in the banking, insurance and secrities business since 1955. With this broad prespective I believe that the sound life insurance and annuity companies of America are better suited to provide sound, safe contracts than the banks and security dealers. I was very pleased to see the introduction of Fixed Indexed Annuities by the life insurance companies. These contracts provide wide choices for the contract owners and protect the original premiums paid and the earnings while eliminating the losses in any contract year. When these contracts are fully explained, the surrender charges in particular, the client can make a wise choice. I trust the 50 state regulators more that I could ever trust a federal agency to regulate these contracts. There is another valuable consideration of annuity contracts in Florida and perhaps elsewhere, the contracts are protected from the cost of probate when beneficiaries are correctly arranged. The contracts in Florida also escape any attachments by creditors. KEEP SEC HANDS OFF INSURANCE AND ANNUITY CONTRACTS. THEY ARE NOT SECURITIES. THE CONTRACT OWNERS HAVE NO INVOLVEMENT IN THE MARKETS OTHER THAN CHOOSING WHICH INDEXES TO USE INCLUDING A FIXED ACCOUNT NOT AFFECTED BY INDEXES. Like all annuities, the sales representatives are required to disclose surrender charges as well as all features of the contracts. The highly rated life and annuity companies all rigidly train their sales staff to only present suitable contracts to their clients based on the individual client's needs and objectives. From my many years in the business these sales representatives are far more concerned about the wellfare of the clients than the representatives of the banks and broker dealers. See attached bio to support my knowledge of financial institutions and financial products.