In a world with a lot of uncertainties, one thing is for sure. If you are retiring any time in the next decade or so, you need to have a financial plan. Otherwise, when the time does come for retirement, you may not have the monetary ability to pull off what you deserve. And, after a lifetime of hard work, we don’t believe that should be the case for anybody.

Many people have played the stock market game, and have experienced varying degrees of results. However, everybody who has gone this route has experienced the same main ingredient - uncertainty. If the markets declined tomorrow, would you be able to survive? There should be absolutely no hesitation in your answer to this question.

For some people, the answer really is as simple as setting up some financial guarantees. There aren’t many sure things in life, but an annuity can bring you the kind of financial certainty that only really otherwise comes from a regular paycheck. Guaranteed sources of lifetime income, strong growth with protection from market risk, long-term care planning, and legacy planning are all areas that can be covered by the right annuities.

When it comes down to it, many annuities pick one of these aforementioned categories, and focus in on doing the best job possible with it. However, the Allianz Core Income 7 annuity is a little bit different. It focuses on two of the most important areas for many people - guaranteed income, and powerful, safe growth - and brings both possibilities to the table. Because of that, this specific annuity may be a strong consideration for many people.

The Allianz Core Income 7 is a fixed index annuity, meaning you can grow your principal safely using the powering of indexing.  Any gains are locked in and protected along with your principal investment and contractually guaranteed to never go down due to market volatility. This annuity features some strong indexing options, including Allianz' proprietary index strategy, the Bloomberg US Dynamic II volatility controlled index.  The Russell 2000, Nasdaq-100 and traditional S&P 500 indexes are also available.  Additionally, the participation rates that really stand out in the Allianz Core Income 7 Fixed Index Annuity is the Bloomberg US Dynamic II 2 year Point to Point Index strategy with rates currently at 120% (at time of this review). One other feature of this annuity is the fixed account option which is currently at 2.3%.  This fixed rate is more than double most CDs, bonds, and money market accounts that are available.

An important feature included in the Allianz Core Income 7 is the Core Income Benefit Rider. While this does cost an additional fee, this rider offers increasing income potential (an attractive option for those especially concerned with the potential rise in cost of living). The Core Income Benefit Rider allows you to choose one of two payout options. Payout option 1 gives you a predictable, dependable income for life. Income option 1 may be a good choice if you want the reassurance of knowing exactly how much income you'll receive, and if you want a guaranteed stream of income that you can't outlive.  The annual cost is the percentage of the accumulation value, deducted on a monthly basis from the accumulation value and the guaranteed minimum value.  Payout option 2 also provides income for life – plus an opportunity for payment increases. Income option 2 offers a smaller payment up front, but it has the potential to increase after each crediting period by the interest rate credited to your allocation options in your contract. After every crediting period, your annual maximum withdrawal amount (maximum income payment) will be recalculated to reflect the interest rate from selected allocations.

While this annuity covers a lot of bases, there are some notable drawbacks. This annuity provides the potential for strong market growth, but there are annuities out there with higher participation rates if this is your main focus. Additionally, there isn’t much here with regards to long-term care benefits with an enhanced payout option for a LTC event, so those specifically worried about assistance with that should look elsewhere. Finally, though this annuity does have a death benefit, there are also other annuities that provide more guaranteed death benefit growth for legacy planning.