Art - how about giving us a specific VA product you like ?
Vague statements like "VAs have come a long way", "I'm a proponent of VAs", and ".. the ones today offer some outstanding advantages..." are not educating us nor advancing this thread.
Calling someone hypocritical isn't advancing this thread either....
Look forward to specifics please. Thanks.
dave, I was waiting for Rockon to respond before following up, but just a light sampling....
Allianz currently will pay you either 4,5,6, or 7% income for life depending on your age (you get step ups as you get older). There is a quarterly lock of value if you're not taking income yet, meaning in December, your value locked for income purposes and this downturn didn't affect you, except to possibly get you another raise. Now, say you are taking income already, if we're down 10% this year, but up 10% next year, you'll get a 10% raise in income for life moving forward. In an up and down market, you can get some major raises without your portfolio growing at all. The downside in my opinion, you will in all likelihood, be getting such a high rate of return that you burn through the value of the portfolio and thus leave nothing for heirs.
On the other hand, if you want to earn 6 1/2% income, but also leave all the money you put in to your heirs, there is a different product. AXA has an interesting product, the downside is you may one day have to make a decision between stopping the income to leave the money for heirs, or else continue the income for life.
Right now, ING has a product that is also worth a look. Quarterly ratchets and if you don't start taking money for a while, they guarantee a double of the value for income after 10 years. They also have a decent death benefit feature with this.
Genworth has a 9% income for life if you're over 75, but there are some caveats that don't thrill me.
I could go on with a couple others, but you get the idea. It really depends on what age you need the money and what your goals are.
BTW, I hope in describing these products, I've done it competently. It's hard to not omit all features and fine print in a single post, so I certainly am not claiming that all info is included here. You'd need to seek out a professional of your choosing for more info. All JMO.