Variable (invested in the stock market)

Fixed which give you a fixed rate of return tax-deferred for a certain term

Index annuities which give you a combination of a minimum rate, a percentage of the market appreciation, and multiple options of how you want to calculate your rates.

Money in annuities grow tax-deferred, which means you will not have to file any 1099-INT for interest earned or 1099-D for dividends earned or any capital appreciation or gains, but you will be paying ordinary income taxes on any gains when taken out. Keep in mind that in qualified, or retirement accounts, you do not get any additional tax advantages with annuities as they already grow tax-deferred. Make sure to speak with your advisor if you have large equity portfolios in individual stocks as the taxes on the gains are taxed at the current 15% LT capital gains rate where annuities can be taxed at the current ordinary income tax rate.

Yes, if the advisor has the proper licenses in the state you live in to conduct life, heath, and var annuity along with their series 7 for stocks and series 6, 63, or 66 to offer consulting and fee based advice.

That is a good question to ask the financial advisor as many choose to focus on certain topics while others are more comprehensive. Now a days most advisors should have a website with a list of services and specialties that they work with clients on. This would be a good starting point before scheduling a meeting with an advisor and meeting only to find out they are not offering what you are looking for.

A general rule of thumb is to not have more than 10% (while some say 5%) in any one security. ETF’s provide a way to invest in a certain strategy while diversifying and also controlling the price by buying ETF’s with limit orders. Think of wanting to buy oil stocks right before the BP oil spill last year… now at that point you could have just picked an oil company and hope it wasnt BP or you could have bought a oil/energy ETF that happened to have BP in it. The downside protection would have been night and day with just having the investment all in BP.

GLD and IAU

Yes, you can invest in gold miners, gold exploration companies, precious metals mutual funds or etf’s, or if actually wanting gold bullion invest in etf’s like GLD, or IAU.

The largest holder of gold is the GLD by I-shares

Investing in gold, silver, or any other commodity is generally not a fad but a hedge against inflation. The thing to keep your eyes on when investing in these “safe plays” is speculation. When the markets get spooked, people start to look for safe plays and get out of equities and with the fear of rising interest rates, bonds are equally scary. Gold and silver as well as other precious metals are a little different from other commodities such as pork bellies, corn, etc.. in that it is being invested as an alternate currency.

It always depends on the level of education or knowledge that someone has on the markets and investments. Some people are more of the “do it yourselfevers” and want to be more hands on, while others dont know where to begin and need the hand holding of a trained financial professional. Regardless of your knowledge though, it is good to have an unbiased point of view that can take the emotions out of investing. When working with an advisor, let them know your desired interaction and how involved you want to be with your plan and investments.

There is never an exact number to save as it depends on your current income, expenses, what type of lifestyle you will want at retirement, whether you plan on traveling during retirement, etc… A good rule of thumb is to save at least 10% of your after tax take home and always, always, always, make sure that if you have a 401k offered with a match to put in the full amount to get the full match first. It is hard to compete with a 100% return if you are getting a full 100% match.

The first thing to consider when investing is the time frame that you are investing for. When it comes to retirement, you have a longer time period to let the investment do what it is supposed to. Picking a good no-load or mutual fund with low fees will definately pay off in the long run. Looking at target date funds based on estimated retirement dates can simplify the process as they are more aggressive the longer the period until retirement and get more conservative as the retirement gets closer. If you are looking at keeping the fees down, consider investing in index funds which are investing in the actual index and the fees are roughly a third to a quarter of mutual funds on average.

It comes from the section 401 (k) in the IRS tax code.

Usually the answer is yes! The key is to speak to the person providing the medical exam ( or have your advisor speak to them ahead of time) and let the examiners know that the lab work needs to go to multiple carriers. Usually by doing the full lab work as opposed to the abbreviated exam will suffice as their might be different medical information needed for disability insurance as life insurace and why not get the job done completely when the labwork is being done once instead of having to do it twice.

Many “wirehouse” firms may not be required to sell certain products as suitability can become an issue but are limited to the different options available to offer clients. The broker/dealer has to have a selling agreement with the company and their products. Many wirehouse firms usually are on contract with a few and sometimes have revenue sharing with some of those companies to incentivise the reps in those products direction. I used to work in the wirehouse business model and found much, much more investment freedom and options to offer in the independent channel.