To help seniors make informed decisions about retirement planning, the National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) has created online resources to consult before meeting with an insurance professional. You can learn more by reviewing their consumer document, "Fixed Indexed Annuities – Your Questions Answered," which goes into some common questions asked about these products.

The questions asked throughout this document include:

• Why would I want to own a fixed indexed annuity contract?
• How are interest credits calculated and applied?
• What will it cost me?
• How long is an index period?
• Is my money guaranteed?
• What if the market goes down?
• What is a cap?
• What if I need access to my money?
• How is my death benefit calculated?
• How can this product solution help my beneficiary?

NAFA provides more articles on its website like "Fixed Indexed Annuities – Your Questions Answered" and Annuity Alliance hopes this information is useful toward explaining fixed indexed annuity products.

Annuity Alliance provides this material as information only and does not endorse any organization, insurance company, product, or advisor.