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Independent Review of the Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA 9 Annuity

What Will Be Covered in this Annuity Review?

In this annuity review, we will be going over the following details regarding the Guggenheim Life and Annuity company’s Preserve MYGA (Multi-Year Guarantee) 9 Year Annuity:
  • Product type
  • Fees
  • Current ratesIndependent Review of the Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA 9 Annuity
  • Realistic long-term return expectations
  • How this annuity is best used
  • How it is most poorly used

Annuities can be complex. That’s where having an Annuity Investigator who loves math comes in. We make the complex, simple.

The purchase of an annuity can be a big decision. After all, these financial vehicles – if purchased properly – can help to ensure that you will have an income for the rest of your life, no matter how long you need it. And today, given that many people are living so much longer, that can be a big relief, knowing that you aren’t going to run out of an income stream down the road. But, even though annuities can offer a long list of benefits, there can also be some pitfalls in the products themselves, as well as the way they are sold. These are confusing products, so unless you really read the “fine print”, an annuity may not perform the way that you expected it to. On top of that, these products can also sometimes be mis-sold by insurance and financial advisors. This doesn’t necessarily happen on purpose, but because advisors who don’t have a focus on annuities may not fully understand them either. This is where the Annuity Gator comes in.

Annuity and Retirement Income Planning Information That You Can Actually Trust

If this is your very first visit to our website, please allow us to personally welcome you here to Annuity Gator. We are a team of experienced annuity professionals who focus on offering comprehensive and unbiased annuity reviews online.Independent Review of the Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA 9 Annuity We have been at this for quite some time now – and far longer than our competitors. Because of this, we have come to be known as a highly trusted source of annuity information. Over the past several years or so, though, many “copycat” websites have started to spring up, mimicking what we do. While that can be somewhat confusing for consumers, we take it as “imitation being the highest form of flattery.” While spending time researching annuities online, you may have come across some conflicting details about these products. This really isn’t too surprising, as there are many opinions about them – some good, some not so good. This is another reason why it is so important to really get a handle on how annuities work so that you can decide for yourself whether or not an annuity will fit in with your short- and long-term financial goals. If you want to know more about how the Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA 9 Year annuity works, you’re definitely in the right place. In fact, given the many copycat websites out there on the Internet today, we dare say that right here is the only place where you’ll get all of the key details that you need. One big reason for this is because we won’t just paint a rosy picture for you and focus on only the good stuff. Rather, we provide the whole picture – good, bad, and yes even the ugly. That’s because knowing all of the information is the only way for you to make a well-informed decision. Just to be clear, we do believe that annuities can be good financial vehicles and that they could have a place in many investors’ portfolios – provided that they are there for the right reasons. That being said, let’s go ahead and dive in!

Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA 9 Year Annuity at a Glance

 
Product NamePreserve MYGA 9 Year
IssuerGuggenheim Life and Annuity
Type of ProductMulti-Year Guarantee / Fixed Annuity
A.M. Best RatingB++
Phone Number(800) 767-7749
Websitehttps://guggenheimlife.com

Opening Thoughts About the Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA 9 Annuity

Guggenheim Life is a subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners, a global investment company that has in excess of $290 billion in assets under management (as of June 30, 2017). This company focuses primarily on three primary areas: investment management, investment banking, and insurance services. The company offers its products in 49 of the U.S. states, and the District of Columbia, and it is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Guggenheim has several different annuities on its shelf, including fixed indexed, multi-year guarantee (MYGA), and single premium immediate annuities (SPIAs). Guggenheim’s multi-year guarantee (MYGA) products are – including the Preserve – are single premium deferred vehicles that offer different guarantee periods in terms of interest rate (in the case of the Preserve 9, this would be for nine years).   The need for fixed / MYGA annuities – which are always backed by life insurance carriers – has been steadily growing over the past few years as more and more of today’s workers are retiring without having the stability of a traditional “defined benefit” pension for future income. By choosing the lifetime income stream on such an annuity, you can essentially “replace” a defined benefit pension plan. If you have a “defined contribution” retirement plan, such as a 401(K), then upon retirement, you will need to have an idea of what you want to do with the money you’ve saved in it – as well as a way to convert those dollars over into a stable and reliable income stream (ideally that will last for the remainder of your life – regardless of how long that may be). One possibility would be a fixed or MYGA annuity. This is because these financial vehicles can offer you a set return and safety of your principal (regardless of what happens in the market), along with a lifetime income that you can count on going forward.

Before we get into the gritty details, here are some necessary legal disclosures…

This is an independent annuity product review. It is not a recommendation to purchase or to sell an annuity. Guggenheim Life and Annuity Company has not endorsed this review in any way, nor do we receive any type of compensation for providing this review. This annuity review is meant solely to be an independent review at the request of our readers so that they may see out perspective when breaking down the positives and the negatives of this particular annuity. Before purchasing any type of insurance and/or investment product, it is important that you do your own due diligence, and that you consult a properly licensed professional if you should have any specific questions that relate to your individual situation. All of the names, marks, and materials that were used for this annuity review are the property of their respective owners. For more information on how to compare annuities in order to determine which one may be the best for you and your financial circumstances, click here to obtain our free annuity report.

How Guggenheim Describes the 9 Year MYGA Preserve Annuity

Guggenheim Life and Annuity Company describe the Preserve Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity product as a financial vehicle that can serve a variety of needs. For example with this annuity, you can expect solid, guaranteed growth throughout the guarantee period, as well as protection of your principal – no matter what occurs in the stock market. And, as with other types of annuities, the funds that are in the account are allowed to grow and compound on a tax-deferred basis. (This is beneficial, as paying taxes on investments each year will reduce the number of funds that are available for growth). The Preserve MYGA annuity also offers a death benefit, whereby the named beneficiary (or beneficiaries) will be paid a benefit that is equal to the account value, should the annuitant die. (If, however, the named beneficiary is the annuitant’s spouse, then the contract can be continued by him or her). There is also a terminal illness rider and a nursing home care rider. These may allow you to access a portion of your annuity funds without having to pay a surrender charge if you meet certain conditions. If you want to get all of the in-depth details regarding the available features and benefits of the Preserve MYGA annuity, you can take a look at the product brochure HERE. One of the biggest keys to a fixed-type of annuity is the ability to generate a set amount of income that you cannot outlive. This can provide you with a “base” income for paying your everyday bills, and/or to use for other items in retirement such as travel or health care.

How an Insurance or Financial Advisor Might “Pitch” the Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA

If you are approaching retirement, then you may be torn between going with financial vehicles that have more risk in order to increase your opportunity for growth, and going with something “safe” so that you don’t lose any of your hard-earned retirement funds. Because many pre-retirees today are concerned about not losing what they’ve already saved, having certain guarantees can be comforting – so if you have been presented this annuity by an insurance or financial advisor, it is likely that they keyed in on the safety features of this product, along with the ability to earn a higher return if or when rates rise in the near future. So, in many ways, this annuity can allow you to potentially increase the returns on your “safe money.” But there are some tradeoffs that you need to be mindful of. For example, even though you can earn more than the guaranteed rate on this annuity, the reality is that you still may not be able to beat, or even meet, the rate of inflation. Here, for instance, once the initial nine year guarantee period has elapsed, you will have the option to renew the annuity for another guaranteed interest rate period. (And, if you don’t notify the insurance company within the 30-day window they provide, your funds will automatically be renewed to a new guarantee period at that time). But this may or may not necessarily be beneficial. For example first, because we’ve been living in a period of historically low-interest rates for roughly a decade now, you could end up “trapping” a large portion of your money for a long period of time – which in turn means that you could be giving up the ability to take advantage of other financial opportunities that could provide you with a better rate.

What About the Fees on this Annuity?

Although they provide some nice benefits, the reality is that – just like most other financial and insurance products – somewhere along the line you will run into some fees if you own an annuity. In this case, if you are being offered the Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA 9 Year product, the agent will earn an up-front sales commission. This commission is generally a percentage of the premium that you pay into the annuity. Although the commission is not deducted from your account value, because that money has to come from somewhere, you actually end up “paying” by way of low-interest rates. There is also the possibility that you’ll run into surrender charges. For instance, even though the product brochure touts that this annuity offers “liquidity,” the reality is that you can only withdraw up to 10% of the contract’s value penalty-free within the first nine years.
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Charge %7654321110
And here’s something else to think about – if your money renews for another guarantee period after the first guaranteed period has elapsed, guess what happens…..yep, the surrender period starts all over again! On top of that, if you make such a withdrawal, and you are under the age of 59 1/2, then you could also find yourself paying an additional penalty of 10% to the IRS as an “early withdrawal” fee. So, you really need to consider this (or any) annuity as a long-term financial endeavor and know that the money you put into it could be locked up for quite some time before you can use it.

The Annuity Gator’s End Take on the Guggenheim Preserve 9 Year Multi-Year Guarantee Annuity

Where this annuity works best: While the Guggenheim Life Preserve 9 Year Multi-Year Guarantee annuity may not be right for everyone, it could be a good option for those who are seeking the following benefits:
  • Guaranteed growth (at least for the first nine years, and again for another guarantee period once the initial period has elapsed)
  • Protection of principal
  • Lifetime income in retirement
Where it works the worst: This annuity may not be right for you if:
  • You want the opportunity to earn an even higher rate of return in order to keep better pace with future inflation
  • You want to access more than just 10% of the contract’s value each year during the surrender period
  • You do not plan to use the lifetime income feature

In Summary

When you are thinking about how to best position your savings for the future, there are a number of criteria that you should ideally take into account. For instance, with annuities, you’ll need to make sure that the product allows you the opportunity to earn a nice return (at least enough to meet or beat inflation), while also keeping your money safe. Likewise, if you are vying for a future income stream, you also need to know how the annuity will pay out when you need to convert the funds into ongoing income. So, if you are still considering a purchase of the Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA 9 Year annuity, you can be assured that your money will be safe, no matter what goes on with the stock market. You can also count on an ongoing income stream down the road, alleviating the worry about running out of money before “running out of time.” Yet, while the Preserve annuity from Guggenheim can provide you with a myriad of cool benefits, the truth is that this annuity might still fall a tad bit short, and quite honestly, there could be a better alternative out there for you. This is particularly the case if you have been looking for a way to keep your principal safe, yet still, have the opportunity to earn a higher amount of return. In any case, the only way to really know how this annuity may perform – based on your specific situation – is to have it tested. We can do this for you by running the numbers through our annuity calculator, and we can then provide you with a spreadsheet of the results. In order to receive this information, just simply contact us through our secure online form here and let us know.

Do You Have Any Additional Questions? Any Other Annuities You’d Like to Have Reviewed?

While we know that this annuity review was a bit on the long side, we feel that providing “too much” information than not enough. That being said, we appreciate you sticking with us here to the end. We also realize that, because everyone’s situation is different, there may have been some questions that went unanswered in this review. If this is the case and you still have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us here. In addition, if you found this annuity review to be helpful, then please forward it on to anyone else that you think may benefit from it, as there is a lot of misconception out there about annuities and how they work. Is there any other annuity you would like to see reviewed? If so, we will get right on it! There are many annuities available on the market today. So, if you don’t see an annuity in our database that you would like to know more about, then just simply let us know the name of that annuity (or annuities, if there are more than one), and our team of annuity “geeks” will get to work on it! Best, The Annuity Gator Independent Review of the Guggenheim Life Preserve MYGA 9 Annuity

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