I hear a lot of questions and concerns about annuities when meeting with my clients. Many of them are worried if an annuity can help them meet their retirement goals and needs, while others ask about the volatility of the financial markets and the potential of market loss. As people have looked over the years for alternatives to help protect from market loss, certain annuities have become increasingly popular among those with retirement in mind. An annuity is a financial product available through insurance companies. There are many types and uses for annuities; today, we’ll look at annuities in two categories: variable and fixed. Variable Annuities A variable annuity, which is categorized as a security, generally produces gains based on underlying investments, such as mutual funds. Many variable annuities may also offer fixed accounts where an investor can allocate funds; instead of participating in the underlying mutual funds, these funds may even receive a fixed rate of gr...