Fee-only advisors are taking a more active role in endorsing annuities that charge a flat-fee.
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and Jefferson National Life Insurance Company have teamed up to promote Jefferson's flat-fee annuity offering.
   NAPFA, an organization of fee-only financial planners, has launched a tool at its Web site, www.napfa.org, that offers consumers the opportunity to carry out a tax-free 1035 exchange-transferring their assets from a high-priced variable annuity-to Jefferson National's Monument Advisor product.
Called The Annuity Rescue Center, the online resource offers consumers advice on whether such an exchange would be beneficial when factors such as surrender surcharges are considered.
   The Monument Advisor annuity is a no-load, no-commission, no-surrender charge variable annuity with a flat insurance fee of $20 per month for clients who invest at least $25,000.
   Noting that most companies charge an asset-based insurance fee, NAPFA and Jefferson National note on the Web site that studies have estimated consumers are paying at least $15 billion each year in insurance fees.
   Jefferson says its product also provides four times as many investment options as the typical variable annuity.
   NAPFA CEO Ellen Turf said the site is designed to "explain how Americans can secure their future and save billions more for retirement by exchanging high-cost traditional VAs for new no-commission, flat-fee VAs."