FINANCIAL HOUSEKEEPING
Learn the truth about annuities
Annuities are a popular financial product but usually one that consumers learn about only from the adviser who is pushing the idea.
With that in mind, a California-based group called Healthcare & Elder Law Programs Corp. created annuitytruth.org, a website that helps consumers get the basics of annuity products before investing.
From annuity basics to pieces covering fixed, variable, equity-index and outer annuity products, the site is best used as a precursor to any sales meeting with an adviser interested in selling you an annuity product. For consumers who already have annuities and who determine that they are not properly suited for the product, annuitytruth.org has information on who can help and how to file complaints.
SHORT COURSE
Graduated-payment mortgage
A graduated-payment mortgage is a home loan that starts out with smaller payments that gradually increase over the first few years, then remain fixed.
It goes by many names, usually for marketing reasons, so it might be called a “step-up loan” or a “new homebuyer’s plan,” but the idea is always the same, namely to allow someone to get into a house at a low payment, with the expectation that the buyer will see an increase in income that allows him to comfortably afford the heightened payments over time.
A graduated-payment mortgage is different from an adjustable-rate mortgage – where payments may also rise – because it is not the rate but rather the payment structure that changes over time.
