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Independent Review of the Pacific Life Pacific Mariner 3 Annuity

What will you learn in this annuity review?

In this review, we will be discussing the following details regarding the Pacific Mariner 3 annuity from Pacific Life Insurance Company:
  • Annuity type
  • How it worksIndependent Review of the Pacific Life Pacific Frontiers ll, 1 Year Guarantee Fixed Annuity
  • Benefits and drawbacks
  • Fees
  • Where it fits best
  • Where it may not fit

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

If you have been considering the purchase of a fixed, multi-year guaranteed annuity because you want to get a guaranteed interest rate on your funds, and you want your hard-earned savings to remain safe – regardless of what happens in the stock market – then the Pacific Life Pacific Mariner 3 Year Guaranteed Rate annuity could be a viable option for you. That’s because this annuity offers a way to grow your money using a guaranteed rate of return (at least for three years), along with protection of principal in any market environment. But, before you go out and purchase this (or any) annuity sight unseen, it is important that you first get a more thorough understanding of its benefits, and its potential drawbacks, because if you decide that it isn’t for you after you’ve made a commitment, it could be fairly expensive to get out of it. Over the past decade or so – and particularly after the U.S. recession of 2008 and the 2020 market crash during the COVID-19 crisis – fixed annuities have become much more popular with those who are retired and who are approaching this time in their lives. One reason for this is the fact that fixed and fixed indexed annuities offer a promise of safety. So, you can count on a more restful night’s sleep going forward. These products also help to alleviate the concern about running out of money in retirement. That’s because, if you go the route of choosing the lifetime income option, the annuity will continue to pay out an income stream, no matter how long you need it. (You can also typically add a joint income recipient, such as a spouse or significant other, who can also take advantage of receiving a lifetime income). Due to increased demand for annuities, though, insurance companies have been coming out with a variety of new products – many of which can make what was an already confusing product even more difficult to understand. This is the case for both consumers, and many insurance/financial advisors. So, unless the advisor that you work with has a primary focus on selling annuity products, you really should do some additional research on these products, as they will oftentimes require that you deposit a large chunk of your savings into them.

Annuity and Retirement Income Planning Advice that You Can Trust

If you’ve never been to our website before, then please allow us to personally welcome you to Annuity Gator. We are a team of annuity and retirement income planning specialists who focus on providing comprehensive and unbiased annuity reviews. We’ve been doing this for quite some time now – longer than our competitors – and because of that, we have come to be known as a trusted source of annuity information on the Internet. But, just like anything that works well, there have also been a number of “copycat” websites that have popped up over the years. There are some websites out there that will make some pretty serious claims about the annuities they offer, with the primary intent of luring you in so that you part with your contact information. And then they fill your email box with “junk mail” for years to come!) If you run across sites like this, be sure that what they are stating is actually true before you part with your hard-earned life savings. One big reason for this is because annuities can be difficult – and expensive – to get out of if you determine that the product you purchase isn’t really performing the way you expected it to. In order to be perfectly clear here, we want to say that we feel annuities can in fact be good products for some people – provided that they are in line with your overall financial goals and needs. That being said, let’s dive into this annuity review!

The Pacific Life Insurance Company’s Mariner 3 Year Annuity at a Glance

Product NamePacific Mariner 3
IssuerPacific Life Insurance Company
Type of ProductMYGA / Multi-Year Guarantee Annuity
S&P RatingAA-
Phone Number(800) 772-4448
Websitewww.pacificlife.com

Opening Thoughts on the Pacific Life Pacific Mariner 3 Year Annuity

Pacific Life has been helping clients to grow and protect wealth for nearly a century and a half. Throughout the years, this insurer has grown and expanded, both in terms of client base and assets under management. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, Pacific Life Insurance Company is considered to be a strong, financially stable insurer. As of mid-2020, the company held roughly $171 billion in assets, and had in excess of $1.1 trillion (with a T) of life insurance in-force. (This is based on the company’s more than 853,000 policyholders). In just the year 2019 alone, Pacific Life paid out $2.7 billion in benefits. So, the company has definitely been there when its policyholders – and their families – needed it. Due in large part to its financial strength and claims-paying ability, Pacific Life has earned some of the top ratings, including a(n):
  •  AA- from Standard & Poor’s
  •  A+ from A.M. Best
  •  AA- from Fitch Ratings
  •  A1 from Moody’s Investors Services
Over the past several years, both fixed and fixed indexed annuities have become much more popular as a way of steadily growing assets, while at the same time keeping funds safe, regardless of what occurs in the market. These financial vehicles can also provide you with a guaranteed lifetime income in retirement, no matter how long you need it. But, while this may initially sound like a win-win situation, the reality is that if something sounds like it may be too good to be true, then it typically is – so you should ideally get as much in-depth detail as possible if you are considering committing to it for the long term.

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. Pacific Life 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 our 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 Pacific Life Describes Its Pacific Mariner 3 Annuity

Pacific Life describes the Pac Mariner 3 Year Guaranteed Rate MYGA annuity as a financial vehicle where you can attain a locked-in, guaranteed interest rate for a certain period of time (in this case, for three years). At the end of the guaranteed term, you may elect to either start another guarantee period, or alternatively, you may withdraw the full amount of the contract without incurring a surrender charge penalty. As with other annuities, the growth that takes place within the account is tax-deferred, meaning that no tax is due on the gain until the time of withdrawal. This is nice because you are essentially able to earn interest on your contributions, as well as interest on your previously earned interest AND interest on the funds that otherwise would have been paid out in tax. If you opt to annuitize the contract (i.e., convert it to an income stream) the income payout can be based on either one or two lives. So, for example, if you want to ensure that both you and your spouse or significant other have a lifetime stream of income that will last until the second person dies, you can do that here with the joint and survivor life annuitization option. The product has some other features of note, such as a death benefit, whereby if death occurs before you start taking income payments, Pacific Life will pass the value of the annuity contract directly to a designated beneficiary (or beneficiaries), and they may be able to avoid the cost and the time delays of the probate process. You can find more information on how the annuities from Pacific Life Insurance Company work here.

How an Insurance or Financial Advisor Might Present this Annuity to You

It can be difficult at best these days to find any type of guarantees on financial products. With that in mind, if your current insurance or financial advisor has talked with you about the Mariner 3 annuity from Pacific Life, it is likely that he or she highlighted the 3-year rate guarantee that you can lock in – regardless of what is happening with interest rates in the economy. But is this necessarily a good thing? Actually, that depends. It could be if rates remain low for the duration. But if they spike up, then you could feel a bit locked in. In many ways, MYGAs (multi-year rate guaranteed annuities) can be like CDs, as you’ll have your money locked up for a certain amount of time, and are penalized with a withdrawal fee if you take out funds (in this case, more than 10% of the contract value) during the surrender period. And, both a CD and an MYGA annuity are typically purchased using a single lump-sum premium. (With the annuity, though, you do get the benefit of tax-deferred growth, though). In addition to that, it is also really important to pay close attention to the renewal period on an MYGA annuity, because sometimes these products will automatically renew – and restart the surrender period – unless you initiate the call to your annuity sales representative/company and let them know that you don’t plan to go with another multi-year guaranteed period of time on the rate. Plus, as with other fixed annuities over the past ten years or so, the return is nothing to write home about. In fact, you’ll be lucky if you’re able to meet, much less beat, inflation, which in turn could have a negative impact on your future purchasing power. Given all of that, it is absolutely essential that you keep both your short- and long-term financial objectives in mind before you commit to a long-term financial vehicle like an MYGA annuity product. One reason for this is because if you want or need to take out more than just 10% of the contract’s value during the surrender period, you can be hit with a pretty hefty fee!

What About Fees on the Pacific Life Mariner 3 MYGA Annuity?

When it comes to fees, most fixed-rate MYGA annuities pay lower commissions (which are oftentimes built directly in), so it won’t have as much of an impact as would a 5 or 6% up-front sales commission. There are also usually no internal fees on these types of products. So, you’ll know just exactly what your interest rate is, as well as what your account value will be in the future – which is contractually guaranteed. But, as with other annuities, you will need to ensure that the money you place into the Pacific Mariner 3 Year MYGA annuity isn’t something that you’ll need to get your hands on in the near future. That’s because there are three years of surrender charges on this annuity. This means that you’ll incur a withdrawal fee (which grades down over time). On top of that, you could also incur taxes on any gains – AND, if you make withdrawals before you turn age 59 1/2, you’ll also be hit with an additional 10% “early withdrawal” fee from the IRS. That being said, if an advisor is really pushing you to purchase this annuity, make sure that it matches up with YOUR financial goals and objectives, not his or hers!

The Annuity Gator’s End Take on the Mariner 3 Annuity from Pacific Life

Where it works best: This particular annuity will usually work the best for those who are looking for:
  •  Principal protection
  •  A guaranteed rate of interest (at least for a set period of time)
  •  Guaranteed lifetime income in the future
Where it works the worst: Conversely, the Pacific Mariner 3 annuity may not fare so well for those who:
  •  Want the opportunity for a higher rate of return on their money
  •  Want to access more than just 10% of the contract value within the first few years (i.e., don’t want their money locked in for a multi-year time period)
  •  Do not plan on using the lifetime income feature

In Summary

There are a number of key factors that should ideally be taken into consideration if you are thinking about purchasing an annuity. These should include – but they are not limited to – how the annuity can produce a return, how safe your money will be, how the income will pay out, and whether or not there are any other optional features that may be added to the annuity (as well as any added costs). If you are considering the purchase of a Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity like the Pacific Life Mariner 3 MYGA, then you can be assured that your principal will be safe – no matter what happens in the stock market. You can also count on a guaranteed lifetime income, regardless of how long you may live (provided that you choose the annuity’s lifetime income payout option). Yet, even with all of the seemingly nice features that are included with this annuity, there could still be a better alternative out there for you – particularly if you are seeking the opportunity for a higher return. But the only way to really know how this product could perform based on your specific situation and needs is to have it tested. We can do that for you by running the numbers through our annuity calculator, and can then provide you with a spreadsheet showing the results. In order to receive this information, just simply contact us via our secure online contact form here.

Do You Have Any Additional Questions About the Pacific Life Mariner 3 MYGA Annuity? Did You Notice Any Mistakes?

We do understand that this annuity review went a bit long. So, we thank you for sticking with us through to the end here. When creating our reviews, we would much rather “err” on the side of being “too long” as versus not long enough. Therefore, if you found that this annuity review was helpful for you, then please feel free to forward it on to anyone else that you think may benefit from it. Alternatively, if this review led you to have even more questions, then please let us know that, too. Are there any other annuities that you would like to see reviewed? There are lots and lots of annuities available in the marketplace today. So, if you would like to see a particular annuity reviewed, then just let us know the name of the annuity (or annuities), and our team of annuity “geeks” will get on the case. So, be sure to check back soon for the new reviews. Best, The Annuity Gator. P.S. If you would like to read more of our Pacific Life annuity reviews here are some links to check out: Independent Review of the Pacific Life Pacific Mariner 3 Annuity            

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