Annuities and Weird Aircraft Designs 1
A look at an uncommon method of investing and a ring wing airplanes
Annuities Investing
Most investors when talking about investments will gravitate to the 3 most common assets: stocks, bonds and real estate. In my life, I have not heard any one mention Annuities much, if at all. I remember reading about them in Tony Robin’s book: Money, Master the Game, but that was it. I didn’t remember much about it then. That is why I will be going over the basics of what they are and if they are even worth investing in. In Tony’s book, he mentions that annuities are very old and were used in the Roman Empire. The way it works is that people pool their money together, and after a certain amount of time, people live off of that money. Since some of the people who pulled their money would be dead, it leaves more for those who are still alive. In modern times, the principal is similar. You make a deal with an insurance company where you pay them, and they either give you a return on your money, or a guaranteed income at a specified time. While this seems simple, there are many types of annuities, and some are better than others. Variable annuities are one product Tony recommends you avoid. The reason is that the return on investment comes from the initial deposit being invested into a mutual fund. A mutual fund is an actively managed fund that holds primarily stocks. The problem is that there are always lots of fees and since no one can predict the market, higher returns are not guaranteed. The reason people try to use this type of annuity is because these annuities allow the money to grow tax differed. These tax befits however don’t overcome the fees for the mutual fund or the annuity fees, so it is best to avoid them. Tony recommends looking at either annuities that are based on low cost index funds, or to look into getting a fixed income annuity. This type of annuity means that you will always get money in the mail, regardless of the current tax rate.
Ring Wing Planes
I have discussed odd looking airplanes before and will continue that today. One design that looks odd is the Ring Wing Plane. These are planes that have rings that curve up and over the plane, connecting into one piece. It was designed by Lockheed martin and was envisioned for flights where the plane would not fly in the upper atmosphere. An advantage to this design is that it can generate more lift due to the lack of wing tips. Typical wing tips create wing tip vortices in the air that can create less lift. The ring wing plane does not have this issue, since it has no wing tips. This means that you can save on fuel, since not as much will be needed for a flight, while also allowing shorter runways since ring wings provide more lift. However, there is a downside to this. While having better lift, it has worse drag once it is flying. Another issue is that by having the equivalent of 2 wings, the ring wings are heavier and need more fuel to carry it. This can negate the fuel saved by having more lift. The final nail in the coffin for the ring wing plane and why it has never been built is one that plagues other pieces of technology, such as aerospike engines. That is the fact that it has never been built. Meaning that the understanding of the ring wing shape is new and therefore unknown. Most companies and governments would rather use what works and not waste time or money experimenting with unknown designs. It is still an interesting concept and definitely is a weird looking plane.
Ring Wing Airplane, Credit: Found And Explained
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