"The economic downturn of 2008 caused a major shift in many people's attitudes and finances," says Katie Libbe, VP of consumer insights at Allianz Life. “As we discovered in the Allianz Life Reclaiming the Future study, many Baby Boomers lost money and are aware – and scared – of the risk of outliving their money. They now desire safety, security, and predictability over growth. In other words, they want what annuities can offer.”
Libbe says that, unfortunately, annuities face a number of misperceptions. More than half of the respondents in the Allianz Life study expressed distaste for the word "annuity,” even after describing an annuity-like product as their ideal financial vehicle. Moreover, annuities continue to be seen as very confusing, and many people admitted that their opinions were formed 10 to 20 years ago, and they hadn't researched annuities since, says Allianz Life.
