Terry Savage: Making sense of annuity pitches
February 10, 2026 by Terry Savage, Tribune Content Agency
A decade ago, the insurance industry made a huge annuity sales pitch to pre-retirees, offering them “variable” or “indexed” annuities with potential stock market growth — and typically with an attached rider promising future income. Now, in most cases, despite the huge gains in the stock market, the income portion is worth far more than the investment side.
Wink’s Moore on the Market: Terry Savage- thank you for your recent article about annuities. Unfortunately, I found some things that concerned me.
– I do not understand what you mean by “artificial measurement dates,” as neither indexed nor variable annuities have calculations with dates, which can be altered arbitrarily by the insurer?
– “Now, decades later…?” By a large majority, annuity contract holders cash surrender or exchange their annuities, once the surrender charge period expires (if not before).
– Just an FYI that “reinvesting” an annuity into a new contract is often in the client’s best interests. For example, the average fixed annuity interest rate in May of 2023 was only 3.00%. Today, that average rate is at 4.37%, but as high as 8.60%. This alone may result in an annuity owner wanting to take advantage of better rates, or “reinvesting.”
– Usually, if someone is exchanging an annuity with an income rider, the new annuity must offer “higher income” than the annuity that is being replaced. This is due to The Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Act regulation.
– How is Stan Haithcock “independent?” He is an annuity salesman?!?
– I would be extremely interested in the source for this statistic from Stan: “Over 60% of people who have income riders never turn them on!” My INDEPENDENT market research firm has received information from insurance companies, which is contrary to this.
-I love Stan Haithcock; he is my friend. However, I take issue with the fact that you are referring consumers to ANY annuity salesperson. That said, Stan’s methods are often along the lines of “annuity salespeople are liars…I am the only one you can trust.” I find it disingenuous that he is the de facto annuity salesperson, just because he has a snappy name for himself. There are a GREAT many annuity salespeople who always act in their clients’ best interests.
Please let me know if I can ever assist you in your fact-checking needs. I sincerely mean that. -sjm
