This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and CFP designation. He is passionate about opening up information to help everyone prepare better for financial certification exams. This episode covers content for the SIE Exam. In this episode you will learn: - The function of a variable annuity death benefit and how it protects beneficiaries. - How surrender charges are structured and create illiquidity for the contract owner. - The purpose of Mortality & Expense (M&E) risk charges and other administrative fees. - How tax-deferred growth allows investments to compound without annual taxation. - The LIFO (Last-In, First-Out) method for taxing withdrawals and the 10% penalty for distributions before age 59.5. For more resources visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ and connect on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/chenran818