podcast

Breathe in.  Smell that? It’s the stench of a variable annuity. If you just threw up a little bit in your mouth, I don’t blame you. If you didn’t, you probably don’t know enough about variable annuities. What’s a variable annuity? It’s a contract between an owner and an issuer whereby the owner agrees to give the issuer principal, and in return, the issuer guarantees the owner variable payments over time. Sounds innocent enough, but are they? Variable annuities are one of those products of which I can pretty much make a blanket statement and say they’re horrible. “Why are they horrible, Jeff?” I thought you’d never ask. Let me count the ways! 1. You’ll Pay High

Broke at 37. Self-made millionaire. Frugal, Author of Filling the Glass: The Skeptic’s Guide to Positive Thinking in Business. Semi-retiree by choice (“it’s incredibly difficult to turn off the moneymaking machine” ). Barry Maher is living life and loving it. Here’s some words from Barry himself: I’m semi-retired and loving it! Through saving and investing, a lot of hard work and more than a little luck, I’m able to afford to retire completely. But why should I, when as a speaker I’ve got the kind of part time job that many people only dream of having: traveling all over the country, all over the world, staying at great locations and meeting fascinating people. People who not only hang