Originally Posted by trueclone2 
VA's can be a good tool for the right person. I pesonally will not go into much more advice than that here since I am licensed to sell them.
I suggest getting info from a couple of different agents from a cpl of different companies NOT from the internet and people who think they know but probably didn't really know the answers to your questions.
What I would suggest from here is to ask for questions to ask an agent?
Like what kind of fees?
Is there a min?
Anything guaranteed?
What kind of risk tollarance do you have?
It also depends on the VA product so many out there and they might not be for you. You can not lump all VA's into one group.
It's a great idea to get info from multiple sources. You must consider who is giving you the information and if they are looking out for
your best interests. If you don't want to spend the time and effort yourself to do the research you could hire a fee only financial advisor who doesn't make his/her money from commissions. Don't get me wrong, when an insurance agent or financial advisor sells you a product they deserve to be compensated for that service. Just make sure that product is right for you.
Also, there's nothing wrong with getting your information from the internet. Just pick a trustworthy source such as Kiplinger's,Money magazine,Smart Money,Business Week,etc. They all say the same thing...variable annuities aren't a good fit for most people.
Sorry for the rant but a coworker bought(was sold) a VA a couple months ago and was reading the fine print last week. He just realized the huge redemption fees if he needs to get at the money. He had no idea how high the expenses involved are just for owning the product. His fault for not reading what he signed. His "financial advisor's" fault for not explaining the product fully.
