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Dear Mr. Berko:

Dear P.S.:

I’m not in Rush Limbaugh’s camp, nor am I a Limbaugh fan, and I do not want these packages to fail. Limbaugh is a great entertainer with a style many people confuse as substance.

Way back in 1990, I remember when the federal government took over the famous, or infamous, Mustang Ranch brothel just outside Reno for tax evasion. It seems the Internal Revenue Service used a “plant on the premises” to gather its incontrovertible evidence. Anyhow, as required by federal regulations, the government failed ignominiously to show a profit. To stanch continued losses, Congress, after numerous onsite information-gathering junkets, declared that the ranch must be closed. Now it seems we are trusting the same congressional idiots and fools, who couldn’t make a nickel running a house of ill repute and selling good booze, to turn around the economy with an $850 billion stimulus package, a trillion-dollar Troubled Asset Relief Program and a $3.6 trillion budget. Enough said!

However, I think this stimulus package and the TARP would have a swell chance of success if the big-business community – i.e., CEOs from the Fortune 500 companies — would put their collective libidos together and publicly declare their support for those packages. Big business and Madison Avenue ought to design a smart advertising campaign for the print media, radio and television. And this campaign must portray a strong, positive spin on government working with industry and all of us working together to bring our country and Americans back to prosperity.

Many of us have an unkind image of big business and big government. A cleverly modeled PR strategy is imperative, because our perceptions eventually become reality. I’m disappointed that the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies continue to mull in their hidey-holes rather than create a spirit of cooperation that says: “All of us can do this if we work together.” Without big-business endorsement, I think the government’s package will have a much more difficult and doubtful road to success.

I like variable annuities, I own two of them and I know enough about the kaleidoscope of details to make a knowledgeable decision for myself. However, most folks don’t. So, it behooves them to purchase a variable annuity using a fee-for-service broker. I know that the usual 5 percent to 6 percent commission on most variables is off-putting, but that’s the cost of a broker’s advice and a safe trip through the confusing jungle of moving parts. However, there are several excellent no-load variable annuities that I am comfortable recommending.

One of my favorites is the Ameritas Life Insurance Co., home-ported in Houston. This no-load annuity has no withdrawal charge, and if you’re over 59 1/2 you can cancel your policy at any time. It has an attractive guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit. It has some of Wall Street’s top money managers — Fidelity, Vanguard, PIMCO, T. Rowe Price — to manage the sub-accounts. A.M. Best Co. recently affirmed Ameritas’ A-plus, or excellent, rating for financial strength and operating performance. Standard & Poor’s recently affirmed its AA-minus, or very strong, rating with a stable outlook for the company’s financial strength.

If you go the no-load route, you might want your broker to manage the mutual funds within the variable annuity for you. For a quarterly fee, your broker can change fund positions to match your changing long-term or short-term goals.

Finally, only financial grifters sell those 10 percent to 15 percent variable annuities you referred to. The insurers they recommend are usually bottom feeders, and I believe those charges are unconscionable. A 5 percent to 6 percent commission is normal in the brokerage business, and no-loads are gaining prominence.

Please address your financial questions to Malcolm Berko, P.O. Box 1416, Boca Raton, Fla. 33429 or e-mail him at malber@comcast.net. © 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.