Part 2 of 3
How to read an annuity illustration
An illustration mixes two kinds of numbers: what the contract promises and a what-if. Know which is which before your client sees them.
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1.
Paste this case and send it. In ChatGPT Work, type @ and pick Annuities Genius first.
Using Annuities Genius: I'm an independent agent paid by commission, so skip fee-based (Advisory) products. Screen S&P 500 FIAs with no separately stated annual contract or rider charge. List surrender charges, any MVA and crediting limits. Do not call one best until I provide the full client profile. He is a 59-year-old man in Michigan with $200,000 from a 401(k) rollover. Split it 50/50 over two S&P 500 accounts. Show guaranteed, hypothetical and an assumed 3% rate side by side. Explain each column in plain words. I decide.
Select the text and copy it.
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2.
Read the column of numbers the contract promises first. Show it next to every other column.
It may stay at the amount put in, with no growth.
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3.
Treat hypothetical as a what-if, never a forecast. Label the 3% column an assumption.
A hypothetical column can grow to a huge sum by age 95. Never quote it as a forecast.