Every week, people ask me the same question. They say, “Marty, what is the best annuity out there?”
My answer never changes. I tell them there is no best annuity. Why? Because I don’t know them yet. I don’t know their money. I don’t know their goals. I don’t know their family.
When someone asks me for the best annuity, it usually means one thing. They got burned before. Or they are scared someone will try to sell them a product just to make a sale.
So let me explain why “best annuity” is the wrong question to ask.
Why One Annuity Can’t Be Best for Everyone
Think about a store that sells suits and dresses. Imagine you walk in and say, “I need a suit.” The salesperson does not ask your size. They do not ask what season you need it for. They just grab the suit closest to the counter and ring it up.
You walk out with a suit that does not fit right. It looks silly on you.
This is what happens at a lot of seminars. One person stands in front of a big room. Everyone in that room has different money, different goals, and different needs. But that person gives everyone the same pitch. They talk about one best annuity with a big bonus or a high rate. It sounds great. But it might be totally wrong for you.
The Secret Nobody Says Out Loud
Here is the truth. There is no best annuity. There is only the best annuity for your situation. You cannot know what that is until someone actually looks closely at your money and your goals.
Think of it like a fitting room. You don’t buy clothes without trying them on first. The same should be true before you buy any annuity.
The 5 Steps to Find the Right Fit
Here is the step-by-step process used to find the right plan. No step gets skipped.
| Step | What Happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Education | You learn how these products work before anyone talks about a specific one. |
| 2. The Big Picture | A look at what you already have, what you need, and when you need it. |
| 3. Find the Real Gap | A deep look for hidden risks that most people miss. |
| 4. Run the Real Numbers | Testing the plan against real math, not wishful thinking. |
| 5. Control What You Can Control | Deciding how much stays guaranteed and how much stays invested. |
Step 1: Education Comes First
Before anyone talks about a certain product, you need to understand how it works. What are the trade-offs? If you skip this step, you are just trusting a stranger. That is how people end up in the wrong contract.
Step 2: The Big Picture
This step looks for gaps. What do you already have? What do you need? When do you need it?
Sometimes, the answer is simple. You don’t need anything at all. Some people just want peace of mind, knowing income is coming in no matter what. Nobody should be pushed into a plan they don’t need.
Step 3: Finding the Real Gap
This is where the real danger hides. And it’s rarely where people expect it.
Picture a couple who felt totally covered. They had a pension. They had two Social Security checks coming in. They were ready to buy a flashy product with a big bonus they heard about at a seminar.
But nobody had ever asked one important question: What happens to that pension if the husband passes away first?
Turns out, the wife would have lost half of that pension. Their combined Social Security would have dropped by about 45%. That is a huge gap. And it had nothing to do with which annuity was the best annuity. It was a planning problem, not a product problem.
Step 4: Run the Real Numbers
This step is where the math gets tested. A lot of plans are built assuming a steady 6% return every single year, forever, with no bad years ever. Meanwhile, the person is pulling out 4% plus extra for inflation.
Is that realistic? When you add in real management fees and real bad years from the past, plans that looked perfect on paper suddenly look shaky. A plan built on a fantasy is not a plan. It’s a guess with a spreadsheet attached to it.
Step 5: Control What You Can Control
You cannot control the stock market. You cannot control inflation. You cannot control how long you will live.
But you can control:
- How much guaranteed income you lock in
- How much risk you carry at any point in time
This step takes the gap found in Step 3 and decides how much of it should be guaranteed versus how much should stay invested.
Why This Process Works
This process beats the old “here’s my favorite annuity” approach for one simple reason: every step builds on the one before it.
- You can’t skip education and jump to picking a product. That means blind trust.
- You can’t skip the gap search. That means solving a problem you never identified.
- You can’t skip the real math. That’s the step that proves whether a plan will actually work.
This is exactly why one annuity can be perfect for one person and a terrible fit for the person sitting right next to them.
The Bottom Line
Stop asking, “What is the best annuity?” Start asking, “What is the best fit for my situation?” That question can only be answered after real education, a real gap search, and real numbers.
If you are not sure whether your own plan has a hidden gap, a simple conversation can help. There’s no cost and no obligation, just clarity on exactly where you stand.
Podcast Episode 115: What’s the Best Annuity? Is the Wrong Question
Download Episode 115: What’s the Best Annuity? Is the Wrong Question on Apple Podcast