How Fixed Index Annuities Can Recession-Proof Your Retirement Savings

Shawn Plummer

CEO, The Annuity Expert

Wondering how to protect retirement savings from a recession? This guide will explain how Fixed Index Annuities(FIA) can protect your retirement savings in a recession and earn an average return rate during volatile times.

There’s a lot of talk on your news channel of choice about another recession coming down the line.

Over the weekend, I watched a segment on how declining Recreational Vehicles (RV) sales indicate that a recession is coming.

Silly, huh? Well, maybe not. Who knows.

I think many consumers wonder what’ll happen and try not to repeat the same mistake from our last recession.

This is why Index Annuities should be spoken more about protecting consumers’ retirement savings, whether for the short or long term.

Index Annuities and the Recession

Here’s the deal with index annuities:

How Index Annuities Work in a Recession

If your chosen index strategy provides growth, your annuity goes up in value. But, on the other hand, if the index strategy dives, your annuity’s value stays the same as before. It’s that simple.

Note*  If you have annuity fees, that’ll decrease the value.

What’s the Downside to Fixed Index Annuities?

You only get a portion of any upside potential in an index annuity. You can be stuck in a long-term contract if you’re not careful. There’s limited liquidity each year.

Making the Most of a Recession

Everyone stashing money away for retirement is at a different stage in their life, so there’s not one particular solution for every person. If you want to protect your retirement savings but want the ability to go back into a market of choice as soon as possible, look at a short-term annuity.

Fixed index annuities have contracts as short as three years in length. Not too bad. You could also look at multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) too.

If you want to protect your retirement savings but want the ability to move back into the market of choice gradually, look at an annuity with accumulating penalty-free withdrawals. If you’re tired of the rollercoaster ride,  look at a standard index annuity contract, typically ten years in length.

Conclusion

You can not lose money due to market volatility with a fixed index annuity. Since you can’t lose money, a fixed index annuity is recession-proof. In addition, there are different ways to utilize the annuity to bridge the gap between market conditions, such as short-term and extra liquid annuities.

You won’t have as much upside as being in the market, but you won’t lose money like being in a market.

Shawn Plummer

CEO, The Annuity Expert

I’m a licensed financial professional focusing on annuities and insurance for more than a decade. My former role was training financial advisors, including for a Fortune Global 500 insurance company. I’ve been featured in Time Magazine, Yahoo! Finance, MSN, SmartAsset, Entrepreneur, Bloomberg, The Simple Dollar, U.S. News and World Report, and Women’s Health Magazine.

The Annuity Expert is an online insurance agency servicing consumers across the United States. My goal is to help you take the guesswork out of retirement planning or find the best insurance coverage at the cheapest rates for you. 

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