Maximize Growth and Preserve Wealth -Client Success Story- Troy Bell

Who wouldn’t want to earn the best rate of return on their investment? Who wouldn’t want to know that their life-long earnings were safe from the risks of market decline? Many pre and post retirees feel that it’s not possible to have BOTH of these options. It seems too good to be true, but the reality is, we help clients to maximize the growth of their investments AND safely preserve their wealth EVERY DAY!

Our advisor Troy Bell has just such a story he would like to share. Watch his video by clicking the link below or scroll down to read more about it.

Client Success Story with Troy Bell

“I had a client that had in excess of $500,000 increments in about 3 different banks. Her money was earning a very low rate of return, less than .04% on each investment. No one had ever talked to her about fixed index annuities. When I met this client I wanted to help her in ALL areas of her retirement planning, so we handled her life insurance needs first and then we worked on answering her health ins questions as well. She had a school aged child and two other children going off to college and I was able to consult with her on all of these area.

“Then we were actually able to pull together those investments from all three of those banks and after introducing her to a fixed index annuity we increased her rate of return and almost tripled the amount of money she was earning, on a tax deferred basis.

“She wanted to maximize growth and preserve wealth and we were able to help her accomplish those goals in a very efficient way.”

“Her investments weren’t something she was living off of, this was legacy money to leave to the children and grandchildren and she wanted to maximize growth and preserve wealth and we were able to help her accomplish those goals in a very efficient way.

“As a result she’s come back several times and purchased policies on family members and I will be helping her father with his investment portfolio as well.

“Servicing people’s needs at that level is really what I get the most enjoyment out of. It’s not a job at that point, it’s not work. It’s something you just enjoy doing because you’re actually helping someone.”

 

Troy Bell is a native Charlestonian and a 1988 graduate of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.

 Troy has a history in the financial   services industry, with past experience working as a Loan Officer and Bank Manager and as an Insurance Manager for AIG. He joined the Cornerstone team in 2014.

 His hobbies are horseback riding, swimming and tennis. Troy is also on the Board of the South Carolina      Association of Community Residential Care Programs.

 

 

 

Income Certainty in an Uncertain Economy

Financial Concerns

I have been working with retirees for a number of years now and I am always interested in what concerns people have when it comes to their finances. There are several consistent answers that continually arise but none more common than income. There are people from all walks of life that are concerned about outliving their money. How do we get through this difficult economic condition, with a volatile market and consistent inflation knowing that at the end of the day there will be enough money to sustain a favorable lifestyle?

It is a valid question and a real concern and without appropriate planning, there could certainly be some very real consequences. There is good news in this story however. There are programs available in the investment world designed specifically for the purpose of income generation. Not just income until you run out of money, but income that CAN NOT BE OUTLIVED. They are called annuities.

 

A great opportunity

Many of you reading this may have experience with annuities and many of you may have heard terrible reviews about annuities as well. Some of the information is true and some should be left by the curb with the trash. What I can tell you, is that annuities present an opportunity to generate a lifetime income stream that can’t be outlived as opposed to the alternative methods of income generation typically used such as a bond portfolio and other market-driven investment options.

I am a registered investment advisor representative and will maintain that there are effective ways to generate income in the securities world that have been used effectively for years. However, none of these methods has the protection of principal that the equity indexed annuity does. These programs allow for growth when the market does well and protection from loss when the market fails. These programs also offer clients opportunities to use certain riders to guarantee income for life while still having the ability to grow the underlying cash value of the account. This enables the investors to have a consistent income stream whether or not the investment performs well.

On top of the income, it also protects and grows the cash value that supports the income with no market downside so that there can be dollars leftover to pass to the investors loved ones if so desired. These riders are so effective that the income stream can persist even past the distribution of all of the original principal and any growth that would have been earned. This is a security that many investors are moving towards with today’s current market conditions. As with any investment vehicle, these products are not right for everyone and certainly not right for all of someone’s assets. However, the equity indexed annuity provides for the opportunity to grow with market potential overcoming the lackluster fixed rates available today and brings protection that almost no other market driven program can offer. It is a nice marriage of features. Being able to add to that, the option for lifetime income with growth opportunity of the base value simultaneously taking place, makes for an attractive offer. For many retirees, the worry of a foregone income stream is now a thing of the past due to the implementation of programs such as these. 

Contributed by David Armbruster, President of the Financial Division of Cornerstone Wealth Advisory Group. This column is for informational purposes only. Please consult an investment advisor prior to any financial decisions.