This depends solely on the risk tolerance of the investor. Most variable annuities offer attractive death benefit options, something comparable investments (like mutual funds) may not. Risk also depends on the selection of sub-accounts by the investor. The variable annuity buyer can reduce his or her risk by blending a selection of conservative, moderate, and aggressive sub-accounts within the annuity.

Variable annuities are sold by prospectus only. Your Smith Barney Financial Advisor can provide you with the prospectuses for the products in which you are interested. Investors should consider the objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the investment company. The prospectus contains this and other information. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. See similar questions...

Annuities and IRAs both provide tax-deferred growth, but there are differences. Anyone can invest in an annuity, in an unlimited amount. With an IRA, only those with earned income can invest, and contributions are limited. Also, an annuity can guarantee you an income for life; most IRAs cannot. In addition, the IRS says you must begin taking distributions from your IRA at age 70 1/2; most annuities do not require you to begin taking regular payments before age 85. See similar questions...

Fixed rate annuities have minimum guarantees and "fixed" (or declared) interest rates. They are meant for the conservative investor that wants to take advantage of tax-deferral within a conservative investment. Since the interest rate from year to year is pre-determined or declared annually, the investor has a good idea of what his or her account value will be from year to year. See similar questions...

The separate account of a variable annuity is made up of many sub-accounts. These sub-accounts are quite similar to mutual funds (and sometimes clones). Given the similarity and the fact that variable annuities and mutual funds are used for similar purposes, comparisons are inevitably made. Many comparisons are often flawed, however, because they tend to focus on expenses instead of performance. Comparisons should be based on performance. See similar questions...

Yes. We will work with your current agent if you have one, or help you find a no-load or low cost insurance product on your own. Many people do not realize that there are annuities and life insurance products available that do not have time constraints on their money. If you need the investments in these products professionally managed on an ongoing basis, or just need help choosing one, we can help. See similar questions...

A variability annuity is an after-tax investment providing tax-deferred returns. Insurance companies are custodians for and promote variable annuities. The tax consequences are that capital gains and dividend tax rates are lower than personal income tax rates, which is the tax rate on the withdrawal of investment returns of the variable annuity. Most ORP users are sophisticated and manage their own retirement plans. See similar questions...

No, there is no advantage to contributing to either variable annuities or mutual funds in your TIAA-CREF-funded retirement plan. Both options receive favorable tax treatment under the plan. See similar questions...

You may direct funds into diverse portfolios appropriate for your risk tolerance and retirement expectations, choosing among different portfolios and fund manager families. The variable annuity is distinct in offering these choices, plus beneficiary protection and optional living benefits, all in one investment. Living benefits and death benefits are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. See similar questions...

Thousands of people have safely rafted down the Colorado River, but a trip of this nature inevitably involves some risks. Emergency evacuations are possible, and we provide insurance to help cover the cost if such an occasion arises, but we recommend you check your own insurance policies as well, as ultimately costs of such aid are your responsibility. See similar questions...

There is no standard single-stage way of doing this. However, there is a zsh idiom (available in all versions of zsh since 3.0) for this: print ${(e)E:+\$$E} Ignore the (e) for now. The :+ means: if the variable $E is set, substitute the following, i.e. \$$E. This is expanded to $EDITOR by the normal rules. Finally, the (e) means 'evaluate the expression you just made'. This gives emacs. For a standard shell way of doing this, you are stuck with eval: eval echo \$$E produces the same result. See similar questions...

The general anaesthesia and the pneumoperitoneum required as part of the laparoscopic procedure do increase the risk in certain groups of patients. Most surgeons would not recommend laparoscopic hernia repair in those with pre-existing disease conditions. Patients with Cardiac diseases and COPD should not be considered a good candidate for laparoscopy. The laparoscopic hernia repair may also be more difficult in patients who have had previous lower abdominal surgery. See similar questions...

There is much that we do not know about regarding cidofovir's long-term side-effects. It does cause cancer in some rodents and Gilead, which makes Vistide, lists it as highly carcinogenic based on those studies. Should we therefore regard this as a problem? No one knows, but a lot of cautious voices have been sounded, since cidofovir usually has to be given multiple times for it to work. See similar questions...

This is a key feature of Web4Print. A master template of a brochure, for example, is created by the designer at the print provider or corporate head office. Web4Print allows the user to select text or picture elements that can be variable from one document to another. Variable text can be defined as free-format (to be input by the user) or selected from a pre-defined list of options. Variable fields can link to other variable fields to be changed automatically. See similar questions...

The DISPLAY variable is the variable every X program checks to see where the information it is going to display should be sent. So, for example, if I'm logged into biscuit.rs.itd.umich.edu at the NUBS Computing Resource Site, and I'm running SPSS on stat.itd.umich.edu, then I should have the DISPLAY variable in the session I'm running SPSS from (on stat.itd.umich.edu) set to biscuit:0. I can do that with the command: This will tell the stat.itd.umich. See similar questions...

The annuity, in essence, is insurance against "living too long." In contrast, traditional life insurance guards against "dying too soon." Here is a summary of how annuities function. An investor hands over funds to an insurance company. The insurer invests the funds. At the end of the annuity's term, the insurer pays the investor his or her investment plus the earnings. See similar questions...

One negative aspect of an annuity is that you cannot get to your money during the growth period without incurring taxes and penalties. The tax code imposes a 10% premature withdrawal penalty on money taken out of a tax-deferred annuity before age 59-1/2, and insurers impose penalties on withdrawals made before the term of the annuity is up. The insurers' penalties are termed "surrender charges," and they usually apply for the first seven years of the annuity contract. See similar questions...

Ans System variables have been predefined by SAP. We can use these variables in formulas or, for example, to pass on certain pieces of information to a function module. How the function called by the function module behaves depends on the type of information passed on. See similar questions...

Epidemiological studies have shown high risk in workers in the manufacturing industry, those in the meat sector, those who have been continuing with the activity for a long time, the force used, and repetitivity of movements. The dimensions of the groove through which the dorsal tendons of the hand and wrist run are reduced and the pressure resulting from repetitive work activity can lead to inflammation of the tendon. See similar questions...