By: Richard Berry
Inflation is at a 40-year high. As of June 27, the markets are taking a beating with the DOW Jones down 14%, the S&P 500 down 18% and the NASDAQ down 26%. With all of the uncertainty everywhere around us, where should you invest your hard-earned retirement money and savings?
The Fixed and the Fixed Index Annuities were designed for times like these. We have over $550 million dollars of clients’ money in these tools along with Jan’s and my money, and no one has ever lost a dime! The word “Fixed” means your principal is secure and can never go down based on stock market performance. The difference between the two is the word “Index.” Let’s dive further into the specifics of these two financial products to help explain why we love them for the right situation.
Fixed Annuities have been around over 200 years and compete against bank CD’s. Even though rates on mortgages and credit card debt have gone up substantially, rates on CD accounts are moving extremely slowly. Fixed Annuities are paying anywhere from 2.5%-4% guaranteed with no fees. Typically, you can take out the interest each year without a penalty, and some even give access to 10% of the account value with no penalty.
The Fixed Index Annuity protects your principal from any losses, but instead of the
guaranteed interest rate, you have more potential based on a stock market index. We have everything available to track from a tech index to a global index to the big S&P 500 index, and some of the participation rates go up to 100% of the upside with still absolutely zero downside. We have other Fixed Index Annuities that can provide a lifetime income stream no matter how long you live.
With inflation and volatility rampant in the economy, our primary focus is helping you preserve your hard-earned money, yet still trying to grow it at a reasonable rate. The best products to achieve the combination of the two – preservation and growth - are the Fixed and the Fixed Index Annuities. They are great financial tools to provide peace of mind with safety and guarantees in an uncertain time.
Please also remember that all of our seminars are open to you, our Berry Financial Group Family, for the purpose of bringing your friends and family to one of our presentations so that they can meet us and learn about our values and philosophies. 61% of our new clients come from your referrals, and for that, we can never say THANK YOU enough! In an attempt to show our extreme gratitude and appreciation, we invite any of you who have introduced us to referrals to semiannual drop ins at our home – the Summer BBQ and the Christmas Drop In – both with catered, delicious lunches and the opportunity to meet all of our Berry Financial Team and extended family. We also award 3 extra tickets for each referral you bring to us to place in the prize drawings of your choice at the Annual Client Appreciation Event held each November at The Carolina Opry. Prizes you are eligible to receive range from golf for foursomes at some of the premier Coastal Courses, iPads and tablets, Nativity sets, visits to the best spas, dinners at amazing local restaurants, gift certificates to fabulous local stores and much more! We also have a random drawing of all clients who have brought referrals annually. These gift cards, awarded at our Client Appreciation, range from $100 to $500!
Especially in these tumultuous, economic times we are currently experiencing and expect to battle for months to come, it is more important than ever for you to make sure your hard-earned retirement dollars are safeguarded and correctly positioned to weather the storms ahead. For many retirees and pre-retirees, the greatest threat to the fun and enjoyment most of us envisioned, prepared for, and saved for all of our adult lives, can be taken away in one fell swoop if we take too much risk financially. In our younger working years, a measured amount of financial risk was necessary to achieve the growth needed to build our nest eggs, but as we get older, our timeline is diminishing, and we may not live long enough to recover from great losses. Great losses can mean less eating out, playing sports, fitness club memberships, gifts to grandchildren, cruises and trips, or maybe even independence. So please, if you have monies outside of Berry Financial that are at risk, and you are concerned, call to schedule a time to talk with Reid or me. Please look around your neighborhoods, churches, gyms, pickleball courts, bridge tables, etc. and invite your friends and family to one of our upcoming seminars so they can understand the secret to living with peace of mind. I hope your summer is filled with blessings. My staff and I greatly appreciate you and the trust and confidence you have placed in us. We will continue to work diligently to prove ourselves worthy. I pray God’s blessings for you and your family.
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