Do you have an annuity you're not sure you understand? Did someone show you an annuity projection that looks like the holy grail of retirement products? We can help you understand the full picture.

Annuities are very complex products. While they can offer a huge benefit when it comes to income generation, they also come with many drawbacks. Some major drawbacks include:

• Annuities tend to limit growth potential.

• Annuities are not a great way to leave a legacy to loved ones.

• Insurance salesmen often oversell the potential tax benefits of annuities.

• Annuities have many different potential sources of fees, which can make them very expensive. These fees appear in different places, so it's difficult to fully appreciate what you are paying inside the annuity.

• Annuities tend to lock your funds in for a certain number of years (sometimes ten or more years!). Once that surrender charge is gone, there may not be enough time to generate enough benefit from the stock market to replicate your income rider. Activating the income rider usually starts depleting your surrender value. And annuitizing forfeits your right to the surrender value (your actual account value) to the insurance company. So, basically, you can become trapped in the annuity even after the surrender period.

• Certain contract terms related to your minimum interest rate, available investments/indexes, and interest crediting methods can be changed by the insurance company at their discretion, which can significantly reduce your actual income potential from the annuity..

• Fixed Index Annuities are not subject to securities regulation, but are sold based on their securities-like properties, creating a regulatory gap for deceptive sales practices and the use of misleading back-testing of custom indexes.

If you have an annuity, Severin Investments can educate you on how your annuity works so you can understand whether it's the best option for your hard-earned funds.

If you have an annuity proposal or purchased an annuity less than 30 days ago, let our experts take a look before you leap into a potentially irreversible decision. We'll educate you on the benefits and major drawbacks of the proposal, show you our options, and then you can make the decision that best comports with your personal investment objectives.