For some reason I think AIG is going to be bailed out, I think seeing AIG collapse is worse than the BSC and LEH combined.
+1 I also sold a lot of EIULs. I did it for a MLM and lost all my friends in process b/c my upline called them 3x a week to try to get them to come to our "Open Houses."
Sounds like everybody hates annuities... but just in case you think you could use one for the tax deferral... Prudential has a good (?) Variable Annuity they acquired from American Skandia... "Adviser's Choice 2000". No front end charges, no CDSC, comparatively low fees, lots of fund choices and unlimited trades if executed online.... limit 20 round-turns per year if executed on the phone. FWIW...
Zero coupon treasury bonds are great investments. I bought some 4 months ago with a 28 year maturity and they are already up 11%. Great return on something that is risk free.
Whoa, Buckeroo! Only risk-free if held to maturity (and then subject to inflation, currency debasement, loss of buying power risk). If rates shoot up, you'll find those zeros dropping faster than "Lotte's drawers". There is no such thing as "risk free"...
Zeros are not bad, I just hate paying taxes ahead of receiving profits ( interest) Insured munis are better imo.
I just checked the closing price for yesterday. They are now up 13% in 4 months. I bought some maturing in 2036 back on May 15th of this year for $281.20; they are now at $318.23. I think it may be a great strategy to buy the longest maturities, hold them for a year or two, sell them, and then buy again the longest maturities. I think the longest maturities will rise the fastest since they are more volatile, but the price will go up over the years, getting closer and closer to $1,000 as that is what they will be worth on the date of maturity. If I can see these things go up even 20% per year, that would be amazing for something that is risk free. I plan to take all of my money, stuff it all into zero coupon treasuries, and hopefully earn six figures per year in interest alone and then just spend the rest of my time traveling throughout Europe. Forget stocks, they are just not worth the stress and sleepless nights any more. Zero coupon treasuries are the way to go.
The bonds are now $294.83. They went down, since rates went up the past few days. So now I'm up only 4.8% in 4 months. I guess I'll buy more, since they're down.
I just looked more closely at an annuity I have. The fine print says uninsured. Would it be wise to pull the money out right away? The company is Aviva.