ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
The High Cost of Surrender Charges
If you are over age 60, live in San Francisco or anywhere else in California, and have fully or partially surrendered a deferred annuity, you may have paid a surrender charge also called a surrender penalty or withdrawal charge. California law has very specific rules about the disclosure of surrender charges for seniors. The San Francisco and California annuity and financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm Inc. represent seniors who have suffered losses on surrender penalties. If you or a loved one paid surrender charges on a full or partial surrender, or have paid rider fees, or other charges under an annuity policy, call Evans Law Firm today at (415)441-8669 and we can review your policy for free. We handle life insurance, annuity, and financial elder abuse cases in San Francisco and throughout California. A list of major annuity providers in California appears below.
Deferred annuities, whether fixed, indexed, or variable, are insurance products and carry most of the same costs as life insurance policies. Sometimes the fees and charges are buried in the policy details. Commissions, surrender charges, rider fees, and subaccount fees all erode returns on annuities. Be wary when an agent recommends these products as retirement savings instruments. While growth in policy value is tax deferred prior to surrender or withdrawal, other retirement savings vehicles such as 401(k)s and IRAs also are tax-deferred. (And almost all of us already have one tax deferred annuity – Social Security.) Policyholders, however, can lose tax deferral benefits on some withdrawals or policy replacements. We are not tax or ERISA lawyers and do not provide tax advice but we have seen policyholders suffer tax losses on surrenders and/or replacements. Always consult with your tax advisor on any full or partial surrender or replacement of an annuity.
Contact Us
If you are over 60 and surrendered an annuity in San Francisco or elsewhere in California, contact California annuity attorney Ingrid Evans and the other annuity and financial elder abuse attorneys at the Evans Law Firm for a free review of your policy at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with complex indexed universal and whole life policies and annuity contracts and cases against large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
Some of the major annuity providers in California are:
Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America
Allstate Life Insurance Company
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company
American National Insurance Company
Athene Annuity and Life Company
AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
EquiTrust Life Insurance Company
Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company
Guggenheim Partners/First Security Benefit Life Insurance Company
Forethought Life Insurance Company
Genworth Life Insurance Company
ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company
Jackson National Life Insurance Company
John Hancock Life Insurance Company
Lincoln Financial Group/The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company
MassMutual/Massachusetts Life Insurance Company
MetLife/Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Midland National Life Insurance Company
Mutual of Omaha
New York Life Insurance Company
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Prudential Life Insurance Company
Guggenheim Partners/Security Benefit Life Insurance Company
Transamerica Life Insurance Company
Voya/Reliastar Life Insurance Company
