The three questions that separate the pros from the pitches

Question 1 — "How does the floor actually work?"

What you are testing: whether they explain a mechanism or sell a feeling. A plain answer sounds like this: the contract credits 0% in a down-index year, so the index loss does not reduce your account value; interest already credited stays credited; and the whole arrangement depends on the insurance company's ability to pay claims — it is not a bank account and not FDIC insured. That is the honest shape of it, and the full mechanics are here. What a pitch sounds like: "the market's upside with none of the downside." That sentence leaves out half the contract — and the half it leaves out is the next question.

Question 2 — "What limits my growth?"

Every floor is paid for. Contracts limit crediting with caps, participation rates, or spreads — and the company can usually adjust those at renewal, within limits stated in the contract. A pro names which tools your contract uses, at what current levels, and shows what a strong index year credits after the limit is applied. A pitch quotes what the index did over the last decade and lets you assume you would have received it. You would not have — how the limits work, with the math, is exactly the part worth slowing down for.

Question 3 — "What does it cost me to get out early?"

The money in these contracts is committed for a period of years — commonly 7 to 10 — and withdrawing more than the allowed amount early triggers surrender charges. A pro walks the schedule year by year: what you can take annually without a fee (many contracts allow around 10%), what the charge is in year one versus year six, and what happens if life forces your hand. A pitch calls the surrender schedule "a detail for the paperwork." It is not a detail. It is the price of the floor, and you should know it before you know anything else.

The bonus question — it tests the person, not the product

"How are you paid?" The plain answer takes one breath: the insurance carrier pays a commission if you choose a contract; you never write the agent a check. If the answer changes the subject, you have learned what you needed. The full compensation explainer is here.

Why I hand these questions out

Because they work on me too. I am a licensed insurance agent — these contracts are the one category I work in — and buyers who ask hard questions make honest work easier, not harder. Some people run these questions and rightly walk away; these contracts have a real not-for list. Others find the trade fits their situation. Either way, three plain answers get you further than any pitch ever has.