Incentives shape advice, so you should be able to see them. Here is how annuity agents get paid, and how a Certified Annuity Advisor in particular is compensated, in plain language. The review is free, the advisor is paid only if you buy, and the credential is the check on that incentive.
In plain terms. An annuity commission is paid by the issuing insurance company to the advisor, only if you buy, and it is built into the product's pricing rather than deducted from your deposit. Place $100,000 into an annuity and the full $100,000 goes to work under the contract terms you were shown. The review itself costs you nothing.
The single most useful question you can ask any advisor is how they get paid. A good one answers it without hesitation. So before you ever speak with a CAA, here is the honest version.
This is the standard model for insurance, and there is nothing unusual about it. What matters is that it is disclosed.
Bring an annuity you were pitched, or one you already own. Your CAA reads the fine print, the rate, the term, and the fees in plain numbers. This costs you nothing, whatever you decide.
You leave with an honest answer, including whether to wait or whether you do not need an annuity at all. There is no fee for walking away.
If you choose to purchase a product through your CAA, the issuing insurance company pays them a commission. You are never billed separately, and your rate is your rate.
Say you place $100,000 into an annuity. That full $100,000 goes to work under the contract terms you were shown. The issuing insurance company pays the advisor separately, out of its own pricing. Your rate is your rate. You do not see $97,000 show up because a fee was carved out first.
Illustrative example for this demo. Actual products and terms vary; always read the disclosure documents.
Every annuity commission model has a potential conflict. Hiding it is the problem, not the model itself. Here is how the CAA standard manages it out in the open.
The designation manages the conflict by making a review before you buy the whole premise, by teaching annuity fees and the other honest downsides in our annuities guide, and by requiring that every CAA is verifiable by name.
Plain English, and the decision stays yours. A Certified Annuity Advisor will review any annuity you are considering, or tell you plainly that you do not need one.
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