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If you want to show your love, write out a road map to your finances
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Asian Stocks Set to Extend Rally as US Shares Slip: Markets Wrap Bloomberg.comAsia markets mostly rise as investors shrug off weak U.S. retail sales, assess China inflation CNBCBuoyant stocks pause for breath on signs of softening US consumption ReutersAsian shares advance after weak US retail data weigh on Wall Street Yahoo Finance
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Trump wants lower mortgage rates. His Fed pick may push the other way. The Washington PostUntangling the ideas of Donald Trump's Fed nominee The EconomistHow much power does the Fed chair really have? : Planet Money NPRWarsh Call for Fed-Treasury Accord Stirs Debate in $30 Trillion Bond Market Bloomberg
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One analyst suggested stocks may be suffering from "rally exhaustion."
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If you're looking for a haven for your money, with a three-year fixed-rate annuity, you can choose one paying 2.00% annually or one paying 4.25%! Other than the rate, the two products are quite similar.
If you're shopping for a five-year guarantee, available rates range from 2.60% to 4.65%, according to AnnuityAdvantage's database of annuity rates.
SEE MORE Annuities Rising in Popularity
Rates on annuities with the same term vary hugely. If you don't shop around, you'll almost certainly earn far less interest than you could. Unfortunately, many local annuity agents represent only a few annuity companies, sometimes just one.
Before I offer tips on how to shop around, here's some background:
A fixed-rate deferred annuity (also called a multiyear guarantee annuity, or MYGA) resembles a bank certificate of deposit. It also pays a guaranteed rate of interest for a set term. Unlike CDs, annuities are tax-deferred. Issued by insurance companies, annuities aren't federally insured like CDs, but state-mandated guaranty associations offer a level of protection.
While the rate isn't the only factor in choosing an annuity, it is the single most important thing when other factors are equal. Here are the key considerations.
How long will your money be committed?
The term is the length of the annuity guarantee period. Most multiyear annuities go from two to 10 years.
Longer-term annuities usually pay more than shorter-term ones. But today, rate differences are not large. For instance, the top three-year an
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