WHAT IS YOUR WORST CASE SCENARIO?
WHAT IS YOUR WORST CASE SCENARIO?
WORST CASE SCENARIO
My father, who made it to age 100, was a grown man during the Great Depression. As such, he frequently provided words of wisdom related to this terrible time in our history. “Always prepare for the Worst Case,” he would say, “and you will never be disappointed.” You may have parents or grandparents who were among those that experienced hard times in their youth and they look at the world in the same guarded fashion. Bad things happened to them, and so they are convinced bad things can happen again.
So far, we have escaped the enormity of an economic collapse comparable to the Great Depression, although our recent Great Recession brought us close. Despite our escape, we still look at the world differently now than we did before 2008. Economic certainty and the potential of a prosperous future seem diminished for everyone, from those in the Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers to younger people from the Gen X, Millennial and Gen Y generations.
This is precisely why everyone is so receptive to the safety and guarantees offered by Indexed Annuities and their Lifetime Income Riders. The “worst case” for these new strategies is that the stock market continues its roller coaster ride and generates little or no returns over the next decade. Should that scenario play itself out, anyone with a 401k, 403b, IRA or taxed mutual funds and/or stocks and bonds will continue to suffer. However, anyone with Indexed Annuities and Income Riders can never lose a dime due to market declines. Moreover, and most importantly, they will continue to generate a guaranteed 6% - 8% per year growth rate for income purposes.
So, the “Worst Case” for my clients is a guaranteed growth rate for income and a guaranteed lifetime payout of that income. And, should the markets actually do better than anticipated and outperform the Indexed Annuity guarantees, my clients’ income will be even higher.