A panel of financial experts on CNBC lauded the results of equity-linked index annuity accounts in February 2009.  In it, the experts fielded a call from an investor who deposited $75,000 into his equity-linked index annuity (also called equity indexed annuities or fixed index annuities or EIA's or FIA's for short).  The caller told the experts that over five years his account had grown to $125,000.

His question was whether to surrender the annuity before the surrender charges ended and all experts agreed that did not make good financial sense.  Further, one of the financial experts said he wished his own accounts had generated those results and told the caller his annuity was a home run.

For the five year period ending September 2008 the average equity indexed annuity returned about 5.15 percent versus about 5.05 percent for the S&P 500 index not including dividends.  Over that period of time an initial deposit of $100,000 would have grown to be worth roughly $131,000 for each. However, by the end of October 2008, the S&P 500 index account would have dropped to about $93,000 while the equity indexed annuity lost no value. (Source:  The Advantage Group)