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Annuity FYI is one of the top annuities companies in America. It's been serving people since the year 2000. The customer reviews investors have been leaving on various sites rate the company very well and the educational content is top-notch.
Pros:
- Excellent customer ratings
- Wide variety of products
- Great online tools
Cons:
- No fees publicized on website
Annuity FYI has been serving retirement investors for over 20 years now. The company has some great reviews, a fantastic list of products, and some educational content on its website.
We here at Sophisticated Investor have reviewed every aspect of the company that we can and come up with the most comprehensive information possible. Find out if Annuity FYI is right for you.
Table of Contents
What is Annuity FYI?
Annuity FYI is a company that provides advice and access to a wide variety of annuities. Most annuities companies do business with insurance companies on behalf of investors. Therefore most investors aren’t buying directly from insurance companies. The reason this is a good thing is because annuities companies earn their commission directly from insurers, so in most cases, the investor isn’t actually paying the third party company for their services.
This means by working with Annuity FYI, you can avoid high-pressure sales tactics and get good advice. To be clear, Annuity FYI is not an insurance company. It’s a company that reviews annuities and recommends the ones they think are the best for retirees and investors and works with their prospective clients to make annuities a part of their broader investing portfolios.
The company is based out of Miami Shores, Florida and has been in business since the year 2000. Read on to learn more about the founders of the company, the types of annuities it has to offer and what consumers have to say about it.
Types of Annuity Investments Offered at Annuity FYI
Annuity FYI lists no less than 15 different types of annuities the company sells to customers. Immediate Annuities payout income to the investor. Deferred annuities invest your money for a set period of time and let it compound for a while longer before paying out the income.
Overall, FYI Annuities offers some of the same basic types of annuities that most competing providers will. So instead of covering all the basics here, let’s take a look at some of the lesser-known annuity types that might suit your needs made available at Annuity FYI.
The Guaranteed Minimum Income Benefit
Just like the name implies, Annuity FYI can guarantee a minimum income benefit through this category of annuity. Essentially no matter how the market performs, the investor earns this percentage regardless.
Death Benefits
A death benefit is one the annuity issuer guarantees that premiums are paid out to your loved ones so that you can leave that part of your estate behind and know that the people you care about the most are taken care of.
The No Surrender Annuity
Keep in mind that no surrender annuities don’t offer bonuses, but they also don’t charge you a penalty for withdrawing early. Many annuities products will allow you to withdraw 15% of your profits without penalty, but after that they will charge you typically around 7% if you withdraw it in the first year and then take off one percentage point from that 7% every year for seven years, so the only way to surrender an annuity in most cases without a fee is to wait at least seven years. The no surrender annuity allows you to forego that, but again, you may not earn as much income.
Lifetime Income Benefit Rider
Annuity FYI’s Lifetime Income Benefit Rider is something you can purchase with a variable annuity. When you purchase this, the insurance company guarantees a regular monthly, quarterly or yearly payment for life, even if your account balance drops all the way to zero. For example, if you purchase an annuity for $100,000 with a 5% income rider, you get $5,000 per year for life no matter what.
Rates and Quotes
One thing we love about Annuity FYI’s quotes and rates is the comparison page that the company has come up with. It lists a really nice description of the different products are offered and what some of the potential rates of return are.
The best bang for your buck as far as earning the highest percentage rate possible is to go with the guaranteed minimum income benefit. According to that comparison page, you can get a rate of up to 7% on this kind of product with Annuity FYI. You can also pursue an annuity that’s indexed to the stock market to earn more, but there’s also a risk that you would earn less than picking a guaranteed option.
It’s also important to note that you can pick no surrender and no load annuities, but again, when you’re looking for flexibility you’re likely giving up a little bit on the rate of return.
Customer Reviews
Annuity FYI has a 3.9 out of five star rating at TrustPilot. To be fair, there’s only one really negative review about one customer having a not so kind experience over the phone, and on the other side of things, there are only a total of six reviews on the website anyway.
Other than that, one of the good things about Annuity FYI’s approach to collecting reviews is that the company actually has a properly filled out Google business profile. Many competitors actually don’t. That profile lists 15 positive reviews and rates a 4.5 out of five stars. Again, there is one negative comment about how Annuity FYI as a middleman for dealers, but that’s actually the case with most annuities companies so don’t take that personally.
Annuity FYI also has a four out of five star rating at the Better Business Bureau with seven customers providing their feedback. Most annuities companies we are reviewing don’t really collect reviews at the Better Business Bureau so the fact that Annuity FYI even has some is a bonus.
Frequently Asked Questions
Annuity FYI might spark you to ask a whole bunch of questions about what it’s like to invest in annuities for your retirement. Here are some of the answers to the most common questions.
Is Annuity Investing Right for Me?
In order to decide whether or not investing in an annuity for your retirement is the right fit for you, you need to be able to think critically about your future and answer some key questions. A good financial advisor or customer service rep at Annuity FYI can help you out with this, but here’s a guide to help you get started:
- When do you want to stop working and enjoy your golden years?
- How old are you going to be when you retire?
- How much longer do you hope to live?
- What kinds of experiences and activities do you hope to enjoy when you retire and how much do you think those experiences are going to cost you?
- How much of your wealth do you want to leave behind for your love ones when it’s time to settle your estate?
- How well diversified are you in other aspects of your investment portfolio?
- Are you willing to risk losing some of your wealth?
- Can you take care of yourself when the next big market crash happens?
What’s the Commission Fee for an Annuity Investment?
Annuity FYI offers no load annuity investments, but in the traditional sense, there’s actually no commission paid out to the annuities company. Annuities companies don’t earn their money off of retirees, they earn it by receiving a commission from the insurance company facilitating the annuity.
That is to say that the rate you see when you invest in an annuity already accounts for the commission being paid out by the insurance company. They tell the annuities company what they are going to receive for facilitating the deal, but you don’t actually have to worry about it.
Are Annuities Locked In?
Annuities are usually bound by certain terms and conditions. As with most financial instruments, you can always take your money out but there may be penalty. Earnings you make in an annuity a tax-deferred, meaning you don’t pay income tax until you withdraw.
That said, withdrawing early usually includes around a 7% fee if you do it in the first year for most annuities products. If you were to withdraw every year you would pay 6% for the second year, 5% for the third year and so on and so forth. You can certainly invest in annuities that won’t necessarily charge you fees in this structure, but most of them do.
Should You Invest with Annuity FYI?
Overall, we can confidently recommend working with Annuity FYI to manage the needs you might have for your retirement specifically as it relates to annuities. The company does a good job of educating consumers with regard to rates in the different types of annuities available.
When we look at customer reviews across different platforms, we’re impressed by the organization’s Better Business Bureau profile and Google reviews, which is a big plus.
Regardless of the company you choose to work with however, we always recommend considering other reviews like DCF Annuities. It’s the best rated company that we have reviewed and ultimately the competition emulates what DCF annuities aims to do, which is to give you the best possible rates in the best possible level of education you could ask to receive.
Either way, feel free to come through more information and make the best choice for yourself. Your retirement depends on it.
- Phone : 1-866-223-2121
- URL :
- Global Rating
- Very Good
User Rating
- 0 No reviews yet!
Annuity FYI is one of the top annuities companies in America. It's been serving people since the year 2000. The customer reviews investors have been leaving on various sites rate the company very well and the educational content is top-notch.
