Variable Annuities - What You Should Know Variable Annuities have become a part of the retirement and investment plans of many Americans. Before you buy a Variable Annuity, you should know some of the basics - and be prepared to ask your insurance agent, broker, financial planner, or other financial professional lots of questions about whether a Variable Annuity is right for you. > Learn More Class B Mutual Fund Shares: Do They Make the Grade? Buying mutual funds through a broker or other investment professional usually means choosing among different mutual fund classes. The only differences among these classes is how much you will pay in expenses and how much your broker will be paid for selling you the fund. > Learn More Principal-Protected Funds - Security Has a Price The recent bear market has left many investors worried more about securing the return of their investment dollars than about the return on their investments. Financial product providers have responded by marketing new types of mutual funds that pledge to guarantee, for a set period of time, that the capital you invest in the mutual fund will be kept safe—for a price. These products are known as "principal protected" funds (or, alternatively, "principal protection," "capital preservation," or "guaranteed" funds).* Before you invest in a principal-protected fund, it is important to understand how they work and what they cost. > Learn More Variable Annuities: Beyond the Hard Sell The marketing efforts used by some variable annuity sellers deserve scrutiny—especially when seniors are the targeted investors. Sales pitches for these products might attempt to scare or confuse investors. One scare tactic used with seniors is to claim that a variable annuity will protect them from lawsuits or seizures of their assets. Many such claims are not based on facts, but nevertheless help land a sale. > Learn More Understanding Mutual Fund Classes As an investor, you may have read about Class A, Class B, Class C or other classes of mutual fund shares. If you are thinking about choosing one of these classes, it is important for you to understand the differences between them. > Learn More Mutual Fund Breakpoints: A Break Worth Taking Mutual funds often offer discounts on front-end sales charges or loads for larger investments. The investment levels at which the discounts become available are called "breakpoints." For example, a mutual fund might charge you a front-end sales load of 5.75 percent for all purchases of less than $50,000, but reduce the load to 4.50 percent for investments between $50,000 and $99,999, and further reduce or eliminate the sales load for even larger investments. > Learn More College Savings Plans - School Yourself Before You Invest We all want to get our money's worth. This is true when it comes to paying for a college education—but it's also true when it comes to investing for higher education. Since 1997, investors have had the opportunity to contribute to Section 529 college savings plans, which offer tax advantages that have made them a popular investment vehicle for saving for college. > Learn More Should You Exchange Your Variable Annuity? If you have a life insurance or annuity contract, you may have been approached to exchange it for a new model, one with better or the latest features. You need to know that even though tax law makes the exchange income tax free and the new contract may sound better for you, you may be losing – not gaining – if you make the exchange. > Learn More Equity-Indexed Annuities - A Complex Choice Sales of equity-indexed annuities (EIAs)—also known as "fixed-indexed insurance products" and "indexed annuities"—have grown considerably in recent years. Although one insurance company at one time included the word "simple" in the name of its product, EIAs are anything but easy to understand. > Learn More Investor Education Foundation The FINRA Investor Education Foundation provides underserved Americans with the knowledge, skills and tools necessary for financial success throughout life. > Learn More