scrabbler1
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2009
- Messages
- 6,704
Last week, my friend met with a rep from Prudential who was trying to get him to use his Roth IRA to buy an annuity. My friend even called me on the phone and then put the rep on to give ME a sales pitch for it. (I was pretty pissed at my friend for doing this and scolded him for it.)
Aside from being pissed, I told my friend whatever he did he should NOT sign anything that day. Whatever the rep was selling would be available the next day, the next week, the next month, and let me do some research on annuities. From what I have seen in this forum (after doing some searches) and in Bogleheads (and elsewhere on the internet), the reviews are at best mixed. The reps and their companies do very well but the customers often get ripped off.
I don't have a lot of info about the exact type of annuity the Prudential rep was selling but there was something about a "guaranteed 5% return" which, after some more research, means little or nothing. And I know that there would be no tax benefit because he would be using his Roth IRA to fund it.
My friend will be coming over to my place tomorrow night (3/14) to visit and will bring anything the rep left with him. Like me, he is 48, single, and has no kids. Besides the Roth IRA, he is in a 457(b) through his employer, a local government he has worked for since ~1996. Not sure if he has a pension with them (probably does). Is there anything else I should look for before I report back here with more advice for him?
Aside from being pissed, I told my friend whatever he did he should NOT sign anything that day. Whatever the rep was selling would be available the next day, the next week, the next month, and let me do some research on annuities. From what I have seen in this forum (after doing some searches) and in Bogleheads (and elsewhere on the internet), the reviews are at best mixed. The reps and their companies do very well but the customers often get ripped off.
I don't have a lot of info about the exact type of annuity the Prudential rep was selling but there was something about a "guaranteed 5% return" which, after some more research, means little or nothing. And I know that there would be no tax benefit because he would be using his Roth IRA to fund it.
My friend will be coming over to my place tomorrow night (3/14) to visit and will bring anything the rep left with him. Like me, he is 48, single, and has no kids. Besides the Roth IRA, he is in a 457(b) through his employer, a local government he has worked for since ~1996. Not sure if he has a pension with them (probably does). Is there anything else I should look for before I report back here with more advice for him?