You may have heard a financial advisor tell you to be careful about putting all of your financial eggs in one basket. Even though the stock market looked invincible for a while, there was always a risk of something happening. And, you don’t need us to tell you the impact that recent times have made on the economic picture. Those who weren’t diversified suffered, and many retirement dreams became a little more murky.

Now, as the financial picture struggles to find ultimate clarity, it is important to realize that this is not the only thing that can throw off an economy. There are so many factors that can cause a market downturn, and in those times, are you confident in your accounts? Especially in today’s world, it is so important to have a financial plan that you have great confidence in.

But, what if there was a way to have the best of both worlds? What if you could grow your money during the good economic times, and safeguard your assets when things went haywire? If that sounds like some crazy fantasy, you need to consider what the right annuity can do for your situation.

A fixed index annuity gives you the options to grow your money through the power of indexing, while never exposing you to the market risk that plagues so many people and their retirement portfolios. And, the F&G Flex Accumulator is a brand new fixed index annuity that is bringing these critical options to the table. So, if you want to grow your money in the safest way possible, let’s take a closer look at what this annuity can do.

The F&G Flex Accumulator lives up to the flex part of its name by giving you a number of options. If you're looking to grow your money in a fixed consistent manner, the fixed account option inside the Flex Accumulator will let you grow your assets in a guaranteed way. If you're looking for higher upside growth potential without all the risk, this annuity provides indexing crediting strategies with a guaranteed 0% floor from popular index strategies such as the S&P 500, the exclusive offering from F&G, their flagship Barclays Trailblazers Sectors 5 index, and a new to market F&G exclusive index, the Morgan Stanley Dynamic Rotator. These each come with their own rates, and participation rates are as high as 120% (meaning you grow more than the amount of actual growth from the market) with the enhanced strategy charge of 1.25%.

The good news is that there is a lot of options to diversify within this annuity. This can allow you to set something that meets your retirement goals. Additionally, all of your gains are locked-in during each crediting period, so you can never lose your assets from the strong market times. But, of course, even in times of market distress, you can’t lose any of your credited accumulation value either.

One very strong attribute of the F&G Flex Accumulator is the enhanced death benefit. If you have a desire to make sure your loved ones are taken care of, the legacy planning options associated with this annuity are strong. The enhanced death benefit (which is an optional rider at no charge), automatically doubles any earned interest on your account value, and applies it to your death benefit base during each crediting period.  The enhanced death benefit must be taken as a beneficiary distribution over 5 annual payments or longer rather than a lump sum.  This can make a major difference when it comes to passing on your legacy to your loved ones.

Of course, there are some areas where the F&G Flex Accumulator could be better. The participation rates, while higher than average if you opt for the 1.25% strategy charge, can be found even higher in other competitive safe accumulation focused fixed index annuities available on the market. Additionally, there is very little here in the way of long-term care benefits except for the waiver of surrender charges in the case of a long term care event. Finally, those who want to make their annuity focal point within the guaranteed lifetime income side of the equation may also have better options available.  In summary, if you're looking for an accumulation focused fixed index annuity with the added perks of an enhanced death benefit at no extra charge, the F&G Flex Accumulator is worth a look.