How to Avoid the Next Market Crash

If you lost money in 2008, you probably want to know how to avoid the next market crash. If you’ve been following The Alemian File you know that market losses are one of the seven retirement killers. On average we have a market crash about every 4 to 6 years, the last one was 2008 and 2009, and before that it was 2002. It’s now 2015, so it’s been just about 6 years since the last crash. The only way that you can avoid the next crash is to move your money out of the market, before the market crashes, including both stocks and mutual funds.

A very good, SAFE alternative to stocks and mutual funds are fixed equity indexed annuities. These have become the vehicle of choice for a lot of people who want to move money out of the markets and into something safe. The reason is, when the market goes up, you will get a reasonable rate of return, and when the market goes down, your money is protected and you don’t lose money.

Let’s talk about insurance for a moment. You use insurance to protect the things that are important to you: health insurance, home owner’s insurance, auto insurance, disability insurance. Retirement is important, so it makes sense to use insurance to protect your retirement.

Equity indexed annuities are insurance products. Here is how they protect us from market losses. The money in an equity indexed annuity is linked to the stock market, but it is not in the stock market. The insurance company takes a portion of the funds and buys government bonds, which on average earn about three to four percent interest, no big deal. The insurance company takes the remaining funds and buys OPTIONS on the S&P 500. If the market goes up, the insurance company exercises the options and interest is credited to the account. If the market goes down, they simply don’t exercise the options and your money is protected from loss. Equity indexed annuities have been around since 1995, and since that time they have an excellent track record. My wife and I own 2 equity indexed annuities, and in the last market crash our money was safe and secure. The best thing you can do is talk with an insurance agent who is experienced with equity indexed annuities. Have the agent show you how equity indexed annuities can help protect your retirement nest egg.

No one knows when the next market crash will occur. If you want to protect your money, start looking into it today, because if you wait, it could be too late. One last tip, get an equity indexed universal life insurance policy to go along with your equity indexed annuity. If you have questions, send me an email to David@TheAlemianFile.com. Check out my website PhysiciansRetirementPlan.com. Make sure you come back here next week to Physicians Money Digest for another edition of The Alemian file.