When investing in annuities careful consideration must be given to the insurance company’s credit rating. It will not suffice to shop for the best annuity rates if the insurance company that issues the policy does not have the means or the credit history to suggest they will pay the investor. These ratings help establish the leaders in the industry and you will want to secure a position with the leaders.
Three major rating companies rate insurance companies. A. M. Best Co , Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s rate insurance companies , but all use different criteria to establish a final rating. While that may seem confusing, it actually gives the consumer three different perspectives and helps them to make an informed decision as to the credit worthiness of the insurance company. These ratings rate the insurance company as a whole not just for annuity policies. A.M Best Co. evaluates a company’s relative financial strength and overall performance in comparison with others. Standard and Poor’s uses a different criteria, and they assess a company’s claims paying ability or, its financial capacity to meet its insurance obligations. Moody’s evaluates financial strength. These are opinions of the relative strength or weakness of individual insurance companies.
All the companies use an alphabet scale or letter grades to assign ratings, although each uses their own unique system. A.M. Best uses letter grades ranging from A++ (Superior), the highest, to F (In Liquidation), the lowest S&P’s rating scheme uses a letter grade scale that ranges from AAA (highest) to R (lowest),. Moody’s uses a letter grade scale that ranges from Aaa for the highest rating to C for the least favorable rating.
This will seem overwhelming at first and your investment adviser can help you sort through these ratings. Evaluate all ratings before buying an annuity. These ratings provide a valuable resource for evaluating your selections. So who has the best annuity rates? That would be the company that will honor their obligations.
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I want to buy a fixed annuity for a 10 year period with a monthly paymen for 10 years
I want to buy a 100,000 fix annity with Met life and want to know the financil industry credit raiting thsnk you