Universal Life---Cash Accumulation-CIGNA

Your response was textbook agent: ignore any carrier risk (easier to sell whatever you please to the rubes) and pooh-pooh the simple product in favor of the vastly more complex (the better to sell the sizzle rather than the steak).

If by "textbook agent" you mean "textbook common sense" I could agree with you. Who in the world would pay ART rates when guaranteed term insurance is so cheap? You'd have to be an absolute fool to buy ART these days. Not only that, but term insurance is about the most simple insurance product around!

AIG was an A++ carrier before they crashed and the same could very well happen again with another company if you are talking about 20-30 years down the line. Any A, A+, or A++ rated company will do just fine and there are many to choose from. If you want to pay higher rates from an A++ company, feel free. That's why I represent 40+ companies, so I don't have to be captive and drink the company kool-aid. If only I had a nickel for every consumer that thought they knew more than the insurance agent about insurance and tried to do it on their own thinking they were saving themselves a bundle of money :nonono:
 
Has anyone heard about Allianz Index Annuity? The sales guy has told me if I deposit $100K, they will add 10% in the first year. And then they will add minimum of 8% every year. I can start withdrawing 5-10% every year. Has anyone used Allianz or know about it?
Thanks.
Never heard of them, but look what Google found:
A Minnesota jury found earlier this week, on Monday, October 12th, that Allianz Life Insurance Company used a misrepresentation or deceptive practice in the course of selling its two-tiered annuities by falsely promising in its pre-sale marketing materials that consumers would receive a 10% “upfront” bonus when they purchased those annuities. In reality, the class action complaint alleged, the bonus was not “upfront” and was not available to policyholders for 15 years, if ever.
But why even bother researching it. 10% the first year, 8% minimum all following years, and you can withdraw 5-10% a year forever? That's a Bernie Madoff kind of claim.
 
Never heard of them, but look what Google found: But why even bother researching it. 10% the first year, 8% minimum all following years, and you can withdraw 5-10% a year forever? That's a Bernie Madoff kind of claim.

Allianz is one of the biggest annuity companies in the world. They have changed their products over the past couple years to be more in line with the rest of the industry in their offerings and to get rid of the image people have of the company, which is pretty much what you found on Google.
 
Allianz is one of the biggest annuity companies in the world. They have changed their products over the past couple years to be more in line with the rest of the industry in their offerings and to get rid of the image people have of the company, which is pretty much what you found on Google.

But a swallow does not make a summer (as the priest said to the altar boy). Great, so this particular company pulled back some of its, um, "less transparent" offerings. But we are still talking about an entire industry that thrives on selling Byzantinely complex products to serve the relatively simple needs of its customers, most of whom seem to have little idea of what they are buying. Why is this? Its not hard to guess. The more complex the product, the easier it is to sell the sizzle rather than the steak (rsingh was clearly enticed), and the easier it is to bury inconvenient details in the fine print, both of which are routinely done with a less sophisticated customer base. The agents/distributors are (at the very least) complicit, as the complexity helps the sale and makes it easy to build in room for a fat commission structure. I think pretty highly of some parts of this industry, but it has failed woefully in serving its customers' interests in the case of investment products. Perhaps this is why life insurers and agents get sued so often...
 
But a swallow does not make a summer (as the priest said to the altar boy). Great, so this particular company pulled back some of its, um, "less transparent" offerings. But we are still talking about an entire industry that thrives on selling Byzantinely complex products to serve the relatively simple needs of its customers, most of whom seem to have little idea of what they are buying. Why is this? Its not hard to guess. The more complex the product, the easier it is to sell the sizzle rather than the steak (rsingh was clearly enticed), and the easier it is to bury inconvenient details in the fine print, both of which are routinely done with a less sophisticated customer base. The agents/distributors are (at the very least) complicit, as the complexity helps the sale and makes it easy to build in room for a fat commission structure. I think pretty highly of some parts of this industry, but it has failed woefully in serving its customers' interests in the case of investment products. Perhaps this is why life insurers and agents get sued so often...

I agree with you. I see the same problem with health insurance. Every day I get fax blasts touting "Guaranteed health insurance!" for "Only $449/month for a family!" Of course, it's not really health insurance, it's just a health "plan" offering discounts and small re-imbursements. Try Googling "Mega life and health scam" and you can read all day....there's a ton of those companies out there, Mega is just the biggest. Pisses me off to no end to see consumers being completely taking advantage of, only to find out after they have a $50k hospital claim that they are totally screwed.
 
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