How do I fire my financial advisor but keep one account where it is right now? I will be heavily penalized to move it?

As far as I know, the changing financial advisors does not automatically change investments.

You can change financial advisors and keep the account right where it is. Call the company and ask the annuity be assigned to a new advisor. You can not roll the annuity to another annuity, even with the same company without paying the surrender charges.

Annuities have surrender charges. The charge usually is a declining percentage and lasts from 7 to 10 years. But I have seen even longer.

Usually it is 7% of the balance the first year and looks something like this. 7,7,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,0. So if you had a $100,000 annuity and surrendered it after the second year, you would lose $7,000.

I think they are telling you that the account is a variable annuity, and because it has an investment component, you need a registered investment advisor to manage the account. If this is a non-qualified annuity, you can do a 1035 exchange to another annuity to avoid the tax but you still have to pay the surrender charges. If it is a qualified annuity, you can roll it to another IRA annuity, but you still have to pay surrender charges.

Some companies, will allow you, one time only, to change the policy from a variable to a fixed annuity without surrender charges. Check with Jackson National. I have been working with clients in the financial planning marketplace for over 20 years.It appears to me, the easiest and least expensive move on your part is to ask the company to assign you another advisor.

There should be no fights or battles. It just a matter of the company assigning a new advisor.

Thank you sooooooooooooo much! This is wonderful information! How does a person choose "the right" advisor?

Any tips for making the right choice? Why can I not be my own "advisor" on this account? I really appreciate your input.

WardCleaver 12 months ago .

If we all had a crystal ball, we would all be rich. Trying to find the right advisor could take you your whole life, or you could find one right away. How to find the right advisor?1.

Understand from the beginning that no one can predict what the market will do. Any advisor that even hints he has your back as far as the market is concerned is not who you are looking for. You want someone who will work with you to build a portfolio based on your risk profile.2.

The advisor should be a CFP or a CHFC. (Certified Financial Planner or Chartered Financial Consultant. ) These people are trained financial advisors.3.

Their personality and yours should match. You don't want someone who tries to force ideas down your throat. Being at odds with the planner will never get anything done.4.At the first meeting, if married, both you and your wife should be present and the both of you should be doing about 70% of the talking.

If the advisor is dominating the conversation, he is not the right person.5. The advisor should be using new money rules, not old money rules. New rules include: A.

Don't contribute the maximum to an IRA or 401(k) unless your situation allows. Old rules says always contribute the max no matter what.B.401(K)'s are not investment accounts. They are retirement accounts.C.

Compound interest high rates of returns on large account balances can erode wealth.D. Self insuring at retirement can lead to less income and less wealth in retirement.E. All calculators are wrong.

They are just hypothetical pictures of the future.F. Setting a monetary goal in the future can be self defeating if you suddenly find you are missing your goal. Try to accumulate as much money as possible instead.G.

Money is not math and math is not money. Money is a commodity.It can gain and lose value over time.H. Anytime you pay tax there is a lost opportunity cost involved.

That is the money you could have earned on the tax dollar had you not given it to the government. If you need any other information, I would be glad to help. You could be your own advisor if you had all your licenses.

Series 6, 65,66. That would allow you to sell and manage mutual fund accounts. Add an insurance license and now you can sell life insurance and annuities and with the series 6 license, variable life and variable annuities.

Add a series 7 and now you can sell stock. If this annuity is a variable annuity, unless you have a securities license, there is no way you can make any changes to the account. So you would need to have an association with an advisor somewhere to monitor the account.

If you had an insurance license and a securities license and were licensed with Jackson National, then you could manage your own annuity..

If the account is at Jackson National - all you have to do is have write a letter to the company naming your new advisor as your broker. They will change it with no problem. Make sure your broker is variable annuity licensed and has a contract with Jackson.

If they are VA licensed, but have no contract, it will not be hard for them to get one. But you do NOT have to cancel you annuity to change brokers. Hope this helps.

It's doing fine the way it is and we have no desire to make any changes. What would be your fee to do this? WardCleaver 12 months ago .

Thank you for asking. I appreciate your offer. But it would be better to find someone local to you.

Call Jackson National and they can give you the names of a couple of Registered Reps in your area. There is a 25bps trail commission that is paid quarterly to the rep you choose.

Wow, I had no idea he was making that. That's why we are dropping him. We don't feel he is looking at anything any more but how to line his own pockets.

WardCleaver 12 months ago .

Jackson will tell you for certain - it could be more - up to 1% annually. It depends on the contract and the surrender charge you agreed to. I realize you are disappointed in his service.

I wonder though, have you asked him to do anything for you? If you haven't, maybe he would be more than willing to help you if you asked. Once you set your allocation, there is a school of thought that says leave it alone.Do you have the guaranteed income rider on your annuity?

This guarantees you will receive 6% (could be different on your annuity) annually, regardless of what the value of your account is today. So if your account was $100,000 and is now worth only $50,000. You would still get 6% of $100,000 = $6000 a year.

If you have that benefit, then a buy and hold strategy makes a lot of sense. These annuities were designed to pick a portfolio and then leave them alone for 30 years. Worth noting, I understand Jackson National is offering Dimensional Advisor Funds now.

That would be a great portfolio to pick, if it is available to you. Low fees and outstanding results.

Thanks again so much! Yes we do have the guaranteed income rider. I'll check into the dimensional advisor funds too!

You have been a GIANT help! WardCleaver 12 months ago .

This is a great annuity and I would not be TOO hard on your advisor for not providing much service. There is not much he can do for you other than encourage you to put more into it. These are self service annuities and once you set your allocation, all you can do is sit back and let it run.

You are fortuante to be in such a powerful investment vehicle. Blessings.

Thank you again! WardCleaver 12 months ago .

Yes, I agree with TLW. Usually changing financial advisors don't affect your investments. But you need to get control of your accounts away from him.

You could get another financial advisor and have him fight it out with the first one.

Thank you. The investment I am referring to is Jackson National Life Annuity. They (Jackson)are telling me I cannot manage this account without an advisor.Is that really true?

If I move that account, Jackson will charge a hefty penalty.... WardCleaver 12 months ago .

Make sure this is coming from Jackson, because your agent made A LOT of commission money selling you this annuity, so he doesn't want to see you leave. Usually, with annuities you can switch it to another annuity not under your agent's control at the same company without a fee. For example, I looked up the Jackson site, and it looks like anyone can buy annuities through it.So you might want to go to Jackson.

Com to confirm what you're being told. You can also consider switching the annuity to an IRA which would allow you to avoid taxes, if this is a retirement account, but would trigger whatever fees Jackson is going to charge you. I don't know your background of why you bought an annuity.

In some cases they are the right thing to do. But you should know that usually 6% of whatever money you invested went as a commission to the agent.So that is a hefty fee to get into that investment.

We trusted this guy and he helped us make some good return on our other investments....but that was then. We no longer feel great about him. I will call Jackson Monday and speak to someone again.

I cannot thank you enough for your input. I really appreciate this! WardCleaver 12 months ago .

I keep thinking about what you have suggested. Clearly I just need to be licensed! I have many real estate related licenses, including a Calif broker license (not an easy one to obtain)...so I should just go forward and get licensed in these areas too!

I never even thought of the most logical solution that you presented! PS: we bought the annuity because I own a small but prosperous mortgage brokerage and this is the pension plan for us. Not sure it was the best move but at the time we invested we trusted this guy (who has a slew of licenses) and I was just too busy to do more than, in those days, make money!(oh, those good days a few years ago).

At least we are savers and we still have much of what I earned. I need to be sponsored by someone to become licensed, right? Would that preclude you as well?

If so, know I am in Calif and if you have more good words of guidance for me, I will gladly and gratefully read them. I owe you big time. If you ever need any help with anything to do or know about re: mortgages, count on me.

This is my 32nd year in the business. I believe in paying debts and being honest with others. Clearly you do as well.

WardCleaver 12 months ago .

Thank you for asking. I appreciate your offer. But it would be better to find someone local to you.

Call Jackson National and they can give you the names of a couple of Registered Reps in your area. There is a 25bps trail commission that is paid quarterly to the rep you choose. Guybee 58 months ago.

Thank you for asking. I appreciate your offer. But it would be better to find someone local to you.

Call Jackson National and they can give you the names of a couple of Registered Reps in your area. There is a 25bps trail commission that is paid quarterly to the rep you choose. Guybee 63 months ago.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.