The Turtle And The Hare

What follows is the modern version of the turtle and the hare—the race between the swift and the persistent. I believe that you will agree with me that historically the stock market could best be compared to the hare in our story of the turtle and the hare. Its sprints are swift and inspiring, but it takes frequent naps during which very little happens for extended periods of time. It is also prone to taking a major downturn about every 5.1

years if you look at returns since the end of World War II in 1945. A major market downturn is the equivalent of the hare falling into a deep slumber while the turtle keeps waddling forward.

So, we have our fleet of foot hare, but who represents the turtle? Who will get my treasure to the finish line faster and having realized greater gains? Gentle reader, let me introduce you to the annuity. It is one of the faster turtles in the investment world, but I still classify it as a turtle. It waddles forward during up markets, and it rests and recovers during down markets, but it never moves backwards.

How does it do this? An annuity allows you to participate in the growth of the stock market in boom times, but it protects you from downturns by insuring your money against loss. Your participation in an up market is not 100% because the annuity company—an insurance company—is taking a fee to insure your money against loss in the down market that will invariably arrive.

So how does the annuity turtle consistently beat the stock market hare to the finish line with a greater return? Let me demonstrate: In year one the stock market goes up 20% and you have 100K invested in the stock market and 100K invested in annuities at an 8% return. At the end of the year, your stock market portfolio would have 120K and your annuity account would have 108K. The second year the stock market again goes up by 20% and the stock account is now worth 144K while the 8% annuity turtle has only gotten to the $116,640 mark.

What happens when the market has a 25% downturn in the third year? The stock account drops to 108K and the annuity account holds steady at $116,640 because it is insured against loss in down markets.

Should you gamble on the hare waking up and making up for your losses in the coming years? How many years do you have to gamble with? How often does the market go down? Over almost any ten-year period, the annuity approach beats the pure stock market approach with greater stability and freedom from wild oscillations.

I recommend that you leave the gambling to youth. They usually have longer to recover from their losses. You earned it. Would you sleep well if your lifetime savings lost 25% in a matter of days? I wouldn’t.

So, why should you listen to me? I am a retired Army lieutenant colonel who made a career out of managing risk as an artillery officer. I was the safety officer for Grafenwoehr, Germany—the largest training area in Europe at the time. I don’t like running risks from which one may not be able to recover. I do like seeing clients’ money grow. I believe that dollars should be treated like chicks that are meant to grow into chickens that lay more eggs that hatch and grow into more egg-laying chickens. I don’t believe that once you are

retired your chicken dollars should be at the whim of a stock market that can decimate them like the bird flu that is currently making eggs a more attractive investment than gold. I want to protect what you worked so hard to accumulate now that you are in your money retaining years.

Here to help,

Glenn

Glenn R. Mosher

Insurance Agent

American Senior Benefits

12734 S Black Bob Road

Olathe, KS 66062

If you have more than 10K to invest, Call or text: 913-704-7238 or email me @ gmosher@asb.insure. If you have less than 10K to invest, save it for a rainy day. We all need a “just in case fund” for the curve balls that life sends our way.