Often, annuity purchases are funded by way of a transfer, whether it’s from another annuity, a life insurance policy, a managed money account, or a 401(k)/pension account.
Knowing how to move that money and getting it right the first time can put a nice bow on the transaction, leaving your new clients feeling confident in your relationship and reminding existing clients why they’ve worked with you for years.
But what about those situations where it doesn’t go right? Where it drags on and you’re faced with the concern of time killing the deal?
We’re here to give you some helpful suggestions on moving those funds to ensure everything goes smoothly:
- Annuity/Life Insurance Replacement
A replacement occurs when the funds being used to fund the new policy originate from an annuity or life insurance policy. A question we receive quite often is, “Do I still call it a replacement if I’m only taking the 10% free withdrawal?” The answer is “yes.” A replacement occurs no matter how much or how little of the premium transfers from one policy to another.
If the product being replaced carries an income or death benefit value, a helpful piece of advice is to provide a payout comparison showing how the suggested policy will meet or exceed whatever benefit amount exists in its current location.
- Mutual Funds/Stocks
Often, these funds must be liquidated prior to being transferred. If appropriately licensed, best practice is to call the custodian of those funds while your client is in the office and make that liquidation request. This way, when the custodian receives the written request to transfer, the money is in cash and ready to move!
- 401(k)/Pension Accounts
Calling the custodian/third-party administrator with your client is also a good rule of thumb when you have a client moving assets from these types of accounts, but, remember, you must be appropriately licensed. It’s a good bet that these accounts will have proprietary forms to move the funds, which you can only source by making that call. You may even find yourself in a fairly simple situation where a check can be cut to the new carrier or the client.
A quick reminder: If the funds are sent to the client, please remember the indirect rollover rule, which allows only one such request in a 365-day window.
Through our partnership with 1035 Yellow Pages, we research every transfer request that comes through our system. By doing so, we know what companies require liquidation, what companies require a Medallion Signature Guarantee, what address forms should be sent (tip: it is rarely the address on the statement), or if the request can be faxed. By knowing these kinds of critical details, we see less Not in Good Order requests.
Note: We are more than happy to look up any company on this site, and provide you with the information you need to get the transaction right the first time on the front end.
