November 14, 2008
Dear Sir and or Madam,
I am writing this letter to advise you that I strongly support the Equity Index Annuity Rule. I am a Certified Financial Planner ™ practitioner doing business as a financial planner in Sumter, South Carolina. I have been in the industry in some capacity for most of my adult life, and I hold my property, casualty, surety & marine and life, accident & health insurance licenses. I have a series 6, 63 and 65 and am certified to sell variable life insurance products of all types.
In my many years as a licensed insurance agent and financial planner, I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I’ve met with a client who had previously been inappropriately sold an indexed annuity. Here are several other reasons I support the Equity Index Annuity Rule:
* the rule is a reasonable and balanced approach to enhancing state enforcement efforts
* the vulnerable aging population needs additional protection from aggressive sales agents
* consumers are often mislead regarding the benefits of an indexed annuity
* liquidity risks, surrender charges, and other suitability factors are not always clearly disclosed or understood
* not all states have adopted suitability standards for annuity sales, nor do most insurance commissioners have adequate enforcement resources available
* some agents misrepresent themselves as offering a single retirement solution when in fact retirement planning is generally a complex planning process
Thank you for taking the time to consider my views regarding this subject. Sincerely,
Jeanine A. Bodie, CFP®
Financial Advisor
First Command Financial Services, Inc., parent of
First Command Financial Planning, Inc. ™