Sunday, December 14, 2008

Annuities Insurance

Secure Your Future with Annuities Insurance
Annuities are unique financial products which have been designed along with employer pension, Social Security, 401(K) plan, IRA and other assets to enhance the retirement security plans. An annuity is an investment vehicle which is sold primarily by insurance companies. You will find several types of annuities but most of them having two basic properties: the payout is immediate or deferred and the other one is in which the returns are fixed or variable.
The annuity with immediate payout plan begins payments to investor immediately after the policy is purchased and in deferred payout the investor receives payment at some later date after the policy is bought. The fixed annuity is one which offers a guaranteed return by investing in low risk securities. We discuss this fixed and immediate payout options a little later.


In most general sense an annuity is an agreement between a person and an insurance company to pay another series of payments. The categories of annuities are classified as
*fixed or variable
*accumulation or pay-out
*fixed period, fixed amount or lifetime
*whether qualified or non-qualified
*flexible or single premium
The features of annuities which make them popular are-
Tax deferral on investment earnings: Many investments you make are taxed by the federal government, but annuities are not taxed until you withdraw the money. Unlike IRAs and 401(k)s there is no limits to amount of money you put into annuity. And the minimum withdrawal requirements are much liberal than other investments.
An array of investment options, including “floors”: Many annuity companies offer variety of investment options. There are fixed annuity, variable annuity, and then there are various types of ‘floors’ that limit the extent of investments taking a rain check from an increasing reference point.
Tax-free transfers among investment options: In contrast to mutual fund or other types of investments you make, you pay no tax with annuities if you change your funds investment procedure. This is valuable if you are using a strategy called ‘rebalancing’. You can consult a financial advisor to learn more on balancing.
Lifetime income: The life time immediate annuities convert an investment into a stream of payments and payments come from these ‘pockets.’ There is a pooling technique which is unique to annuities and it’s what enables annuities companies to promise you a lifetime income.
Benefits to your heirs: There is a guaranteed period scheme in immediate annuity. A guaranteed period commits the insurance company to continue payments even after you die to beneficiaries, you designate. The payment is made to beneficiaries to the guaranteed period which are usually between 10-20 years.
Why you should buy annuities?
We have already seen how annuities serve useful purposes. A deferred annuity can help you meet your retirement income goals. The contributions to other existing plans are limited, but the annuity plan can meet your retirement needs. The immediate investment annuity can help you outlive against your assets and a lot more benefits. You can search for a good insurance company online and ask for a quote to understand how the policy has been designed for your needs and benefits.

No comments:

Post a Comment