Before you go running off and thinking you made a bad mistake, if the 16% is
a return net of all expenses and you have some of the living benefit and
death benefit guarantees, including features like principal protection, you
maybe just fine.

Every investment has expenses, when taken over the long term (greater than 6
six years) annuities match up well against mutual funds.


"Aaron" <aaronsuperguy[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1135372523.933672.268180[at]g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
- quote -

Thanks for all the advice. I guess I got lucky making 16% this year.
I am starting to take control of my finances now. I read Personal
Finance for Dummies and Mutual Funds for Dummies. Wish I would have
doen that sooner. Now I will have to look at my options at getting out
of my bad investments. Thanks again for the advice

"Aaron" <aaronsuperguy[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

If you just got the annuity, they are not gonna let you escape
without paying a penalty, probably 10%, so you may have no
choice until 7 years are up. The penalty goes down every
year for 7 years, that is. Now you get only 6% today.

Will their gains be less than 16% in the future. You betcha!

"Aaron" <aaronsuperguy[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1135138853.828978.98620[at]g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
- quote -


You are in fact asking us to "recite the Bible while standing on one leg".

I do NOT know anything about you, your wife, your finances, your
tolerance for FLUCTUATION, your potential NEEDS.
And you provide insufficient information about "the annuity"

However I will offer some insight. IF it is a FIXED ANNUITY, then
almost ALL of the costs have been applied already, and the on-going
cost are minimal. IF however it is a VARIABLE Annuity, then in all
probability, you are correct in that the maintenance cost of that type
of contract could be termed "expensive"
You do mention that it is "invested aggressively", which would infer
VARIABLE, AND that you (or your wife, the annuitant) have made
your CHOICES to take the aggressive route. In most Variable Annuities
the ANNUITANT decides where (within certain boundaries) the Assets
of the Annuity should be INVESTED.

In the event that you should decide to surrender & invest on your own,
be sure to take into consideration the "costs of surrender", as well
as the additional cost involved in the set-up of a NEW IRA ACCOUNT.
Cal Lester CLU

Check out how much you pay for an annunity. They are very expensive to you.
(Vanguard being an excepiton) Sometimes it is expensive just to get out of
the annunity once they have put you into one. Annunities are basically an
insurance policy that invests your money. If you are trying to avoid taxes
put the money into a stock that doesn't pay dividends (growth stocks )
"Aaron" <aaronsuperguy[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1135138853.828978.98620[at]g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
- quote -

In article <1135138853.828978.98620[at]g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> ,
"Aaron" <aaronsuperguy[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

I personally think it is good to have the money invested under
your own control. If you are savvy at picking funds or simply
go with indexes, Vanguard would be a good choice. If you need
help picking funds or making transactions, there are tons of
good brokers out there. Low cost funds are the key.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

My wife's office went out of business a while back. Since then she had
her 401K rolled over into an Annuity with Principle. I have done some
reading and annuities have large operating costs. It is invested
aggresively, since we will not be retiring for another 25 years. The
annuity gained 16% last year, so I can't complain about its
performance. My question is should I keep my money here or put it into
a Vanguard IRA with a low operating cost? Thanks.