Can Annuities Be Accessed by Creditors?

Q: I read your article about annunities but there was one thing you did not address. I understood that they cannot be accessed by any type of creditors, somewhat like a homesteaded home, and would therefore be considered "safe" for certain people - is this correct? I have a $10,000 annunity and was thinking about adding to it and rolling it over to an immediate annunity. Are there annunities that have a "life term" and an "inflation" protection?

A: I believe it is misleading to say that an annuity is protected from creditors. To my knowledge, only an immediate annuity is protected and that's because there isn't any money to go after. You no longer own the asset, only the income stream. And they can go after the income stream.

Your posted comments on this and other questions are welcome.
If you have a question for Jeff an answer is just a click away.
Find a wealth of information at Jeff's website.