Last updated: April 12, 2026 | By Jason Caudill, MBA | Reviewed by the MyAnnuityStore Editorial Team
Ken Fisher has spent more than a decade and an estimated $50 million telling Americans he hates annuities. His nationwide ad campaign, which launched in 2013, uses the tagline: “I Hate Annuities. And You Should Too.” He has even said he would “die and go to hell” before selling one.
It is a powerful marketing message. It is also one of the most effective client acquisition campaigns in the history of wealth management. The question retirees should ask is not whether Ken Fisher hates annuities. The question is: why does he hate them, and who benefits from his position?
Ken Fisher’s Three Arguments Against Annuities
Fisher Investments, the firm Ken Fisher founded and still chairs, has published extensively on why they oppose annuities. Their objections fall into three categories:
1. “Annuities lack liquidity”
Fisher argues that annuities lock up your money with surrender charges that penalize early withdrawals. This is partially true for some annuity types. A 10-year fixed indexed annuity with a 10% declining surrender schedule does restrict access.
But here is what he leaves out: a 3-year or 5-year MYGA has a surrender period no longer than a bank CD. Most MYGAs allow 10% penalty-free withdrawals annually starting in year one. Some carriers offer full return-of-premium provisions. These are not 10-year lockups.
2. “Annuities have hidden fees”
Fisher warns about layers of fees that eat into returns. This criticism is valid for variable annuities, where mortality and expense charges, subaccount fees, and optional rider costs can total 3% to 4% per year.
It is not valid for fixed annuities. A Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity (MYGA) has zero annual fees. No management fee. No expense ratio. No mortality charge. The rate quoted is the rate earned, period. When Fisher says “annuities have hidden fees,” he is describing one product type and applying it to all of them.
3. “You can do better in the stock market”
Fisher’s firm manages money in equities. Their fundamental belief is that long-term stock market returns will outperform any guaranteed product. Over 30-year periods, that has historically been true.
But retirees do not have 30-year time horizons for their safe money. A 63-year-old who puts $200,000 into the stock market and watches it drop 35% in year one has a math problem that “long-term averages” cannot fix. She needs that money in 5 to 10 years, and she cannot wait for a recovery that may take 3 to 5 years. That is sequence-of-returns risk, and fixed annuities eliminate it completely.
The Part Ken Fisher Doesn’t Mention: His Business Model
This is the section that changes the entire conversation.
Ken Fisher runs Fisher Investments, an assets-under-management (AUM) advisory firm. Their fee model charges approximately 1.25% per year on the assets they manage. The more money they manage, the more they earn. Every dollar a client puts into an annuity is a dollar that leaves their fee base.
Let’s run the math:
| Scenario | 5-Year MYGA (5.50%) | Fisher Investments (~1.25% AUM) |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | $200,000 | $200,000 |
| Annual fees you pay | $0 | ~$2,500/year |
| Total fees over 5 years | $0 | ~$12,500+ |
| Guaranteed return | 5.50% per year | None |
| Can you lose principal? | No | Yes |
| Value after 5 years (guaranteed) | ~$261,500 | Unknown |
On a $200,000 account, Fisher Investments earns roughly $2,500 per year in fees, whether the market goes up or down. Over five years, that is $12,500+ out of the client’s pocket. A MYGA charges $0 in fees and guarantees the return.
When Ken Fisher says he “hates annuities,” he is also saying: “I hate the product that competes directly with my fee-based business model.” That does not make him wrong about everything. But it is context that every retiree deserves to have before taking his advice at face value.
The Surrender Fee Swap
Fisher Investments has historically offered to pay clients’ surrender charges to exit their existing annuity contracts and move the assets to Fisher’s management. It is a compelling offer on the surface.
But here is what happens next: the client signs a new advisory agreement with Fisher, and their assets are now subject to 1.25% annual fees for as long as they stay. There is no surrender period in name, but there is an ongoing cost that never goes to zero.
Compare:
- A MYGA surrender charge starts at 7-10% and declines to 0% over the surrender period. After year 5, your money is 100% liquid with no ongoing cost.
- An AUM advisory fee of 1.25% never declines. It is charged every year, forever, on every dollar managed.
A client with $300,000 at Fisher Investments pays $3,750 per year in perpetuity. Over 10 years, that is $37,500 in advisory fees, more than any annuity surrender charge would have cost. Over 20 years, it is $75,000. The annuity “fee” goes to zero. The AUM fee never does.
What Ken Fisher Gets Right
Fisher is not wrong about everything. Some of his points have merit:
- Variable annuities are expensive for most people. We agree. The fee structures on many VAs are difficult to justify, especially when the underlying subaccounts could be purchased as standalone mutual funds at a fraction of the cost.
- Some annuity salespeople use high-pressure tactics. Dinner seminars, scare-based selling, and complex products pushed on people who do not fully understand them are real industry problems.
- Long-term equity returns have historically beaten guaranteed rates. If you are 45 years old with a 25-year time horizon and a high risk tolerance, a diversified equity portfolio will likely outperform a MYGA over that period. No argument there.
The problem is not that Fisher raises legitimate concerns. The problem is that his “I hate ALL annuities” position collapses a nuanced, product-specific question into a marketing slogan.
Who Should Ignore Ken Fisher’s Advice?
If you fit any of these profiles, Fisher’s blanket recommendation does not apply to you:
- You are 55 or older and need to protect a portion of your retirement savings from market downturns.
- You have $100,000 to $500,000 that you do not need for 3 to 7 years and want a guaranteed return higher than CDs.
- You do not want to pay ongoing advisory fees on money that is sitting in a safe, guaranteed product.
- You want a known outcome. “I will have $261,500 in five years” is a fundamentally different value proposition than “the market has historically averaged 10%, so maybe you’ll have more, or maybe less.”
Fisher’s advice makes sense for clients who want full equity exposure, have long time horizons, and are comfortable with the volatility that comes with it. For those clients, an AUM manager may be the right choice. But the 4.1 million Americans turning 65 every year during Peak 65 are, increasingly, not those clients.
The Numbers Tell a Different Story
While Ken Fisher runs ads telling people to hate annuities, Americans are buying them at record levels. Total U.S. annuity sales hit $464.1 billion in 2025, the fourth consecutive year of record sales, according to LIMRA. Fixed-rate deferred annuity (MYGA) sales alone hit $165.3 billion.
These are not unsophisticated buyers being tricked by salespeople. This is a market signal. When interest rates are attractive, retirees rationally choose guaranteed returns over market uncertainty. They are voting with their wallets, and they are voting against Fisher’s position.
The Bottom Line
Ken Fisher is a successful investor and a brilliant marketer. His “I Hate Annuities” campaign has generated billions of dollars in AUM for his firm. But the campaign is, at its core, a customer acquisition strategy, not an objective financial analysis.
Before you accept his position, ask yourself: Does the person telling me to hate annuities make money when I don’t buy one? If the answer is yes, get a second opinion.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Ken Fisher hate annuities?
Fisher’s stated reasons are fees, lack of liquidity, and underperformance vs. the stock market. His unstated reason is that his firm, Fisher Investments, charges approximately 1.25% per year in AUM fees. Every dollar a client puts into an annuity is a dollar that leaves his fee base.
Does Ken Fisher have a conflict of interest with annuities?
Yes. Fisher Investments is an assets-under-management firm. They earn more money when clients keep assets invested with them rather than placing them in annuities. His “I Hate Annuities” ad campaign has been one of the most effective client acquisition tools in the advisory industry.
Are Fisher Investments fees higher than annuity fees?
For fixed annuities, yes. A MYGA charges zero annual fees. Fisher Investments charges approximately 1.25% per year. On a $200,000 account, that is roughly $2,500 per year in advisory fees, or $12,500+ over five years, versus $0 for a MYGA.
Is Ken Fisher right that annuities underperform the stock market?
Over 20 to 30 year periods, equities have historically outperformed guaranteed rates. But retirees do not buy fixed annuities for 30-year growth. They buy them to protect money they need in 3 to 7 years. A guaranteed 5.50% return with no risk of loss is a better fit for safe money than an equity portfolio that could drop 35% in a single year.
Should I move my annuity to Fisher Investments?
Before moving assets from an annuity to any advisory firm, compare the total cost over your expected holding period. A MYGA’s surrender charge declines to $0. An AUM fee of 1.25% never declines. On $200,000 over 10 years, the AUM fee totals roughly $25,000. On a MYGA, the fee is $0 after the surrender period ends.
Sources & Citations
- Annuity Straight Talk: What Does Ken Fisher Think About Annuities?
- ThinkAdvisor: Why Ken Fisher Hates Annuities
- LIMRA: 2025 Final U.S. Retail Annuity Sales
- Investopedia: Sequence-of-Returns Risk
- Canvas Annuity: Why We Disagree with Ken Fisher
Disclosures: Educational information only. Guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurer. My Annuity Store, Inc. is a licensed insurance agency. We may earn commissions when clients purchase products mentioned on this page. Ken Fisher and Fisher Investments are not affiliated with My Annuity Store.
