Phillip Wasserman's book has been used to train over 8000 annuity salespeople and representatives. Amidst this precarious economic climate, investors are more uncertain than ever on the right avenues through which to allocate their retirement portfolios. Phillip Wasserman, one of the leading annuity experts in the country, has written this easy, practical guide for the everyday investor to understand annuities, a retirement income planning tool based on safety and security but often misunderstood. This guide provides the basics for retirees to approach their financial advisors while feeling secure in their understanding about the products. Many financial advisors have capitalized on the fact that their clients have either been uninformed or at least believed that the "experts" should make their investment choices for them. To the contrary, the reader should walk away from this guide feeling informed and empowered, with a greater degree of control over their own retirement and livelihood. For the potential investor, reading a practical guide from an expert on annuities, allowing one the time to question and substantiate the claims being made, certainly carries less pressure than the average financial consultation. But this guide also has something for everyone: from the nervous retiree to the stock market junky to the self-informed financial wizard to the agent seeking for ways to better inform their clients about annuities. Putting aside all of the financial jargon, the hidden numbers, and the mistaken claims about annuities, Outlasting the Storm coherently explains perhaps the most significant financial product in a period of unprecedented financial volatility.