ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company

Indexed Annuity Risks Increase With the Investor’s Age

Indexed annuities carry several risks and guarantees; but for senior citizens, the risks are increased with age. Annuities often depend on a long-term contract that, for older people, may be completely unrealistic given their age and life expectancies.

For this reason, insurance agencies may target senior citizens and encourage them to invest in annuities, knowing that the profit to the company will likely be greater than the returns to the investor. That being the case, it is important for older individuals to be aware of the risks associated with these policies and the companies that sell them.

ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company

ING Life Insurance and Annuity Company is related to a wide variety of affiliated companies that sell indexed annuities. Security Life of Denver Insurance Company, ReliaStar Insurance Company, and ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company are all subsidiaries of ING, which is now VOYA, and according to the company website, they provide “all types of customizable policies with tax benefits to help you protect your financial future, provide for your loved ones and possibly even add to your retirement income.”

Annuity Class Action Lawsuit

Ernest Abbit, from California, recently filed a class action suit against ING. Abbit’s suit alleged that ING had mishandled his annuity and had indexed financial tools that failed to meet the company’s advertised goals. Additionally, the lawsuit claims that ING did not properly advise Abbit, an older client, of the risks associated with annuity investments after a certain age.

ING states that their goal for indexed annuities is to provide older clients with “protection of principal.” The company claims that they intend to reduce investment risks and it utilizes a variety of products that are supposed to increase an annuity’s value and build up the client’s retirement savings. According to Abbit’s claim, ING did not follow through on any of these promises.

In the suit, Abbit claims he and several other investors who had scenarios similar to his have lost nearly 20 percent of their savings. Much of this loss occurred on the “first day” of investing with ING, Abbit alleges, because the company’s financial advisors did not provide enough information about the annuity product and what it entailed. Personally, Abbit claims that his returns are a fraction of those that a regular investor would have received from the S&P 500 investment, the product to which his advisor allegedly stated his annuity was comparable.

Get an Annuity Fraud Attorney

Annuity fraud can threaten your financial stability and cause you to forgo many of the plans you have made for your retirement and your future. If you feel that your annuity provider has talked you into a fraudulent or unsuitable policy, get in touch with a California annuity fraud attorney at the Evans Law Firm, Inc. immediately. We have office locations in San Francisco, Northern California, Los Angeles, Southern California, and Sonoma County, and we are ready to help you! You can also call us at 415-441-8669, toll free at 888-503-8267 or email us at info@evanslaw.com to discuss your case and set up a consultation. Our attorneys will take a look at your annuity and your financial records to see if there are any potential disasters waiting for you.