Since November of 2016 the stock market has hit record high after record high which has created an estimated 3 trillion of additional wealth for stock holders.If you own stocks or mutual funds your money should have done well and had nice gains.
The next question is how much longer will it last? Will it come back down to where it was? If it comes back down might it even go down more? The answer to all of those is NOBODY KNOWS! People have been trying to time the stock market for generations and very few have been successful.
Do you want to give your stock market gains back during the next downturn? Do you want to lose money when it goes back south of where it started its upward trend? Would you like to keep your gains but not give up the possibility of future upturns?
You can reallocate some of your stocks and mutual funds into programs that protect your newfound gains while allowing you to participate in future gains should they continue.This can be done with the use of a solid fixed indexed annuity.
When you purchase a fixed indexed annuity your money will track one of various indexes (actual index depends on the product and company chosen by you and your adviser) with the protection against any market downturns that may occur.If you purchase an annuity and the index you track goes up over the next year or two your money will grow along with that index (actual growth rates vary greatly based on the product chosen) but if that index goes down during the same period your cash won’t go down because of that market and index loss.
You’ll need to know some terms and ask some questions about your potential investment. Here are some to consider but not an exhaustive list: