It doesn’t have to be this way
How to minimize your anxiety about your finances
By Ron Grensteiner, President of American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company
I read with interest an article on the front page of the December 11th Wall Street Journal, entitled “For many Financial Advisors, stocks become a hard sell.” The article features a nervous investor, who is—with good reason—concerned about the variety of challenges facing our financial markets. The part of the article that most caught my attention was when this investor said that, despite the stress, he must hang tough because, “For ordinary Americans, the stock market is just about the only way to make money…you have to play.” Similarly, another investor quoted in this same article said that he was going to continue holding stocks, but will rely on his advisor for reassurance: “I want to sleep at night.”
I’m certainly not opposed to stocks as part of a balanced retirement plan. However, I was struck by the level of anxiety experienced by these people and thought: it doesn’t have to be this way! There are real ways to add balance to your financial plan that don’t involve just hoping for the best when it comes to the stock market.
One of the ways that many investors have chosen to add some balance to their financial plans, particularly in risky markets, is to consider a fixed indexed annuity. These products play an important role in a balanced retirement plan by providing principal protection, upside potential, guaranteed interest, and guaranteed income for life.
The investors quoted above only underscores the need for consumers to become better educated about the valuable benefits of fixed indexed annuities. To learn more about how these products can help you balance your financial plan, check out this brief educational video and/or learn how other consumers are using these products to reach their retirement goals.
