DesertDweller
Confused about dryer sheets
Greetings from Palm Springs, CA!
I am almost 62 and retired. I do have separation pay from my employer for about a year and want to work now on picking investments for retirement income. Liquid assets are about $1.5M and I also will have a pension (my company will buy an immediate annuity to fund it).
Like many, many others, I got really hurt by the financial crisis. Lost a few hundred thousand in bank preferred stocks and Fannie/Freddie investments recommended by my former advisor (she picked these "safer" investments because I told her I was nervous about investing in stocks).
I also own two homes, one of which I am renting until housing recovers and I can sell without a huge loss.
My current advisor is with my bank. He has recommended dividing my assets between two variable annuities and one moderate growth ETF fund to generate $130K a year and last 20 years (my health is not great, so that is a reasonable period).
But when I read the annuity literature, I have great difficulty sorting out what I am really getting and what the fees are. Also, there is a heck of a lot of negative info on the Net concerning annuities. Finally, I don't really have the knowledge or the temperament to manage my own portfolio.
Any advice on how to proceed would be welcome. Perhaps having another advisor give me a second opinion should be part of that?
The heavy losses on those "safe" preferreds really spooked me. Plus, the decline in the value of my homes is a another concern. I have mortgages on both.
Thanks everyone for any advice you feel you may be able to offer.
I am almost 62 and retired. I do have separation pay from my employer for about a year and want to work now on picking investments for retirement income. Liquid assets are about $1.5M and I also will have a pension (my company will buy an immediate annuity to fund it).
Like many, many others, I got really hurt by the financial crisis. Lost a few hundred thousand in bank preferred stocks and Fannie/Freddie investments recommended by my former advisor (she picked these "safer" investments because I told her I was nervous about investing in stocks).
I also own two homes, one of which I am renting until housing recovers and I can sell without a huge loss.
My current advisor is with my bank. He has recommended dividing my assets between two variable annuities and one moderate growth ETF fund to generate $130K a year and last 20 years (my health is not great, so that is a reasonable period).
But when I read the annuity literature, I have great difficulty sorting out what I am really getting and what the fees are. Also, there is a heck of a lot of negative info on the Net concerning annuities. Finally, I don't really have the knowledge or the temperament to manage my own portfolio.
Any advice on how to proceed would be welcome. Perhaps having another advisor give me a second opinion should be part of that?
The heavy losses on those "safe" preferreds really spooked me. Plus, the decline in the value of my homes is a another concern. I have mortgages on both.
Thanks everyone for any advice you feel you may be able to offer.