People will always find something wrong with anything. Aviva’s roots date back to England in the early 1700’s. That’s before the US was even born. They’re still around so I guess they’re doing something right. They provide plans that are almost like annuities and yes if you take them out early of course there will be fees. It’s in the prospectus. Read it. And is that any different than redeeming a CD or IRA early? Nooo and CD’s and IRAs don’t pay nearly as much in interest as Aviva.
It’s based on the S&P 500’s performance over one or 2 years. You can elect a feature that if there is a loss in the market you are guaranteed 2% to at least keep up with inflation. And the gains are maxed at 12% and 30% depending how you allocate your money. Your adviser should assist you with that. It doesn’t cost much to get started if you’re young. If you are older and just starting to plan your retirement than blame yourself not the company. I started planning mine at 22.
Who knows if Social Security will around when it’s my time. Job stability doesn’t exist anymore so why should I count on a pension. As a matter of fact why count on a job? I opened up an insurance agency so there is no pension for me. People should make educated and read the fine print. That’s why it’s there. To be read. Everyone just likes to blame everything and everyone instead of looking out for themselves and learning from their mistakes because it’s easier to just point fingers rather than look in the mirror and say "Self, you screwed up but we can fix it."