Don T Buy Annuities 📥

Optional features like death benefits or inflation protection add further annual expenses, potentially eating into the very returns they are meant to protect. 2. The "Liquidity Trap" and Surrender Charges

The case against annuities often centers on their high costs, lack of flexibility, and the risk that they may not keep pace with economic changes over a decades-long retirement. While marketed as "personal pensions," the trade-offs required to secure that guaranteed income can significantly erode your overall wealth. 1. Prohibitive Fees and Hidden Costs don t buy annuities

Annuities are notorious for complex fee structures that are often higher than traditional investments. In some flexible-premium contracts

In some flexible-premium contracts, every new contribution starts its own multi-year surrender clock, effectively keeping your capital illiquid indefinitely. 3. Inflation and Purchasing Power Risk and management fees for underlying subaccounts.

Variable annuities can carry annual fees exceeding 3%, including mortality and expense (M&E) risk charges, administrative fees, and management fees for underlying subaccounts.