It is often difficult to find good advice for financial matters. Everyone has a neighbor or friend that is more than willing to offer their vast knowledge of investing, but push comes to shove, the advice is simply not what you are ready to rely upon. Finding good fixed annuities advice is in the same boat. You need to find someone that has genuine expertise to ensure that you advice is sound and applicable in not just general terms but also specifically to your personal financial situation.

Although there are a number of ways to determine if your advisor is qualified to talk to you about fixed annuities, one of the first criteria should be whether or not they are licensed to talk about annuities. Generally speaking, as long as the advisor is licensed to speak about insurance matters, they are also licensed to speak about most annuities (variable annuities require another additional license). Beyond that, there are a couple of other indicators that will let you know the extent of their knowledge.

Many people find that an advisor’s designation is quite telling of their experience and background training. Common credentials such as a CFP (Certified Financial Planner) or ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) show advanced learning in the financial services field. Other more specific designation such as the CASL or CLU can provide you a look into their more specialized areas of expertise. The CLU is associated with insurance knowledge and the CASL is associated with senior living issues. Both of which deal extensively with annuity products.

It is generally good to find an advisor that doesn’t just specialize in annuity products. If they don’t offer or understand the other market products, they will likely be entirely to eager to sell you an annuity contract. You need to make sure the contract is right for you, and not right for your advisor’s pocketbook.