Retirement Planning Products

Two certainties these days:

 

1. We face more financial risk today than ever before – Market risks, investment risks, risks tied to our employment. Saving for the next year or the next decade is becoming harder and harder. Not much in life is certain any longer and finances are no exception.
2. We face some of the lowest interest rates in history. It’s harder and harder to put our money to work for us. For seniors, it’s nearly impossible to earn enough interest to live on.

As a licensed, independent insurance agent, I have a whole suite of cool solutions for those planning for retirement, OR, simply wishing to earn more on their long term savings “safe money”.  I represent the offerings of more than 60+ well known insurance companies, including some of the most recognizable names in the industry.

Most “growth” options fall into two general categories; Tax-Deferred Annuities and Retirement Plan Rollovers. Both of these are long-term strategies used, primarily, for the creation and accumulation of money to be used later in life.  These would more than likely not be suitable strategies for short-term capital growth.  In nearly all these type of accounts there are penalties for removing money prior to age 59 1/2.

What are Tax-Deferred Annuities?

“Annuities” are a type of contract between an insurance company and their clients in which the client invests premiums into the insurance company’s annuity contract (either in period payments or in a “Single Premium” sometimes referred to as an “SPDA“).  In return, the insurance company provides their client with the potential for earnings, typically at a better rate than they might find in most other “safe money” investments.  The earnings and principal are then paid out at a later date (deferred), or “annuitized”, meaning that at that point, the client is paid a lump sum, or begins to receive a series of periodic payments.

Many people are intimidated by annuity offerings do to their complexity, but I can explain them to you and be as basic or as complex as you want when discussing the details in order to determine suitability.  After discussing annuities with your tax adviser, we can help you through the details.

The FIVE Fundamental Advantages for Tax-Deferred Annuities

 

• TAX-DEFERRED GROWTH – To accumulate funds on a tax-deferred basis for the long term. The benefit here is the compounding of interest on money that you would have had to remove in a taxable account to pay income taxes.
• RELIABLE INCOME STREAM THAT YOU CANNOT OUTLIVE – To provide a source of income, guaranteed payable for life or for a specified period of time.
• HIGH RATES OF RETURN – In many cases, annuities may offer their owner two to eight times the return afforded them in a certificate of deposit (as of current rates).
• AVOIDANCE OF PROBATE – Annuities are insurance contracts, like life insurance, and life like insurance, the proceeds paid out upon death do not go through the probate process which can be lengthy and costly.
• QUICK LIQUIDITY UPON DEATH – Upon death, also like life insurance, annuities are paid out upon proof of death.

To these five fundamentals, the following can be added to further define the purpose and application of annuities.

• Deferred annuities are long-term products designed to provide benefits for a time later in life, typically retirement.  They are not intended nor are they appropriate for short-term needs.
• Deferred annuities are primarily savings and investment products.  A buyer can select a product design that matches his or her investment profile and tolerance for risk; “fixed-rate” annuities and to a large extent, “indexed” annuities are conservative vehicles, appropriate for “safe money” needs, while “variable” annuities offer the potential for market-based growth and market-based returns, neither of which are guaranteed.

For discussion on the three main types of annuities, Contact The NINJA!

To schedule time with the NINJA! one-on-one, go HERE!