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."