Can Annuities Offer Competitive Returns? 
Great question . It 's one that seems to get annuities or the people that sell them into a little hot water . What is your definition of competitive returns ? Annuities are not designed to compete with market returns . That being said , Fixed Indexed Annuities might , I said might be able to do that . If you want an annuity to keep up with market gains during a long term bull market like we saw from 1982 thru 1999 you wo n't , but if you are looking to keep up with a market situation like we 've seen since 2000 it could . I said could . Annuities are not designed to keep up with the market , but they might . Annuities should be utilized for what they will do not what they might do . I wo n't address Variable Annuities , I am not securities licensed so ca n't answer that end of the equation . Hope this helps . 