Annuities?

[Torvy]

I have a lot of experience in banking and I can honestly tell you that a CU will be better most of the time. Requirements have been loosened, so almost everyone qualifies for one CU or another. For all intents and purposes, CUs are non-profit and are 'owned' by the customers.

 

[Snobdds]

If any financial advisor tells you to invest in anything other than low cost index funds...your working for him and he is not working for you.

 

[RustyA]

13 month CD at our local bank 4.09% apy just bought one last week.

 

[dmccarty]

I've never belonged to a credit union, there's one around here but I don't see any advantages of it over a commercial bank...the rates paid/charged are pretty close. Don't know what restrictions you have to meet to qualify to join, at least at one time most were quite specific...you had to be a municipal employee or work in a certain field, etc. I'm very leery of bank financial advisors, they all seem to be paid on commission and tend to steer you towards investments that benefit them, not necessarily you. Learned that lesson the hard way.

We belong to a two different credit unions but did our land and house building loans with a bank. The CU would not loan money for the size of land we bought so I used a bank where I knew a loan officer. Stayed with that bank for years, even though we had a doozy of a problem with a house closing, but that is another story. Eventually, we did a refi, and went back to the CU.

It pays to shop around for the best terms.

Now a days, the credit unions have much looser requirements for membership.

I do prefer the smaller local institutions. The bank we used has merged into a much larger institution.

Later,
Dan

 

[fruitcakesa]

4 week t-bills are paying 4.5%+.
I have been laddering them so I get a pay off every week, direct deposit into my bank account.
These are a very safe bet and the rates have continued to increase coincidentally with the Fed raising interest.

 

[kenmac]

13 month CD at our local bank 4.09% apy just bought one last week.

going to buy one monday at my local bank 18 mo @5%

 

[kenmac]

If any financial advisor tells you to invest in anything other than low cost index funds...your working for him and he is not working for you.

Guess I'm screwed then Mine has me in a good many private equities .
You should check into them. Better than gambling everything in the market.

 

[duffer]

I won't tell you what to do, but I can assure you that annuities have SEVERAL skeletons in the closet that the rep/agent won't share with you. I know because I was a financial advisor for 25 years (retired now). All I will say is that you could put a gun to my head, and I STILL would not sell an annuity to a client.

 

[RSKY]

When I turned 59-1/2 and intended to start drawing from my main 401K I was advised by my advisor at Fidelity to roll it into an IRA. I did so and that advisor was replaced by a lady, also a Fidelity employee, who specialized in new IRA owners. She made a sales pitch for an annuity. Made it sound good but I thought something was off. I didn't know anything about them so after thinking about it for a week I declined. She then told me that she was required to make the pitch but was relieved I didn't buy the annuity. Said she didn't want to loose her job but in most cases it literally made her sick when somebody purchased one. Said there were some instances where the annuity was the best solution for the customer but those were few and far between. Told me to never buy one except in certain situations with declining health and nobody to manage my finances for me.

She eventually got promoted out of that position and no longer advises me and I hate that.

RSKY

 

[turbo36]

If any financial advisor tells you to invest in anything other than low cost index funds...your working for him and he is not working for you.

Really? At any age or financial position?