My wife is a teacher and has been given some information from a provider for her to invest in a 403b program. She brought home the packet of information and it seems like they have three different types of annuities you can park your money into.
I have never dealt with annuities and somewhat understand them but could some of you more educated people in the financial field lend me some advice when dealing with annuities and 403b's.
Sorry for the lack of details but I'm at work and left the info at home.
This situation is typical, but I never really understood why. A 403b (or TSA) is by it's nature a tax deferred account. An annuitiy is a tax deferred insurance/investment product. Putting annuities in TSAs is kind of like opening an umbrella in the house to keep the rain off of you. Annuities also tend to have higher internal expenses (and pay much higher commissions). Your wife probably doesn't have much of a choice in the matter, but I'd rather see mutual funds in a TSA. Unfortunately the financial industry treats annuities like Duct Tape, "they'll fix anything". I see them more like surgical scalpels, very precise instruments for very specific situations. Type "how annuities work" into your browser for plenty of information.
Originally Posted By foxinnc:
My wife is a teacher and has been given some information from a provider for her to invest in a 403b program. She brought home the packet of information and it seems like they have three different types of annuities you can park your money into.
I have never dealt with annuities and somewhat understand them but could some of you more educated people in the financial field lend me some advice when dealing with annuities and 403b's.
Sorry for the lack of details but I'm at work and left the info at home.
DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, INVEST IN ANNUITIES INSIDE A 403B!
read the post directly above mine.
ar-jedi
Can you say Don't do it. Your already covered for the tax purposes. I doubt you can do much about it but it does bring pause. The people who are controlling your retirement don't know, don't care, or got paid off. I'm a skeptic so I'll guess all three.
