Annuities
As people are living longer the fear of outliving your assets becomes very real.
The uncertainty with corporate pensions, the Social Security system and a volatile stock market do little to calm
the fears of running out of money. One answer could lie with a
little-known insurance product "Annuities". At Wieben Insurance Services we can offer a broad array of annuities to
fit your personal needs.
An annuity is a contract between you and an
insurance company that is designed to meet retirement and other
long-range goals, under which you make a lump-sum payment or series of payments. In return, the insurer
agrees to make periodic payments to you beginning immediately or at some future
date.
Annuities typically offer tax-deferred growth of
earnings and may include a death benefit that will pay your beneficiary a specified minimum amount, such as
your total purchase payments. While tax is deferred on earnings growth, when withdrawals are taken from the
annuity, gains are taxed at ordinary income rates, and not capital gains rates. If you withdraw your money
early from an annuity, you may pay substantial surrender charges to the insurance company, as well as tax
penalties.
Fixed Annuity
In a fixed annuity, the insurance
company agrees to pay you no less than a specified rate of interest during the time that your account is
growing. The insurance company also agrees that the periodic payments will be a specified amount per dollar in your
account. These periodic payments may last for a definite period, such as 20 years, or an indefinite period, such as
your lifetime or the lifetime of you and your spouse.
Immediate Annuity
An immediate annuity provides
protection against outliving your assets. Advances in technology and healthier lifestyles are allowing Americans to
live longer than ever.
Choice (s)
You can choose from several different income payment options for
your immediate annuity. Some of the most common include:
-
Fixed period - You decide how many years you want to receive income payments and the amount
of each income payment is reported to you.
-
Fixed amount - You decide how much you want your income payment to be and the calculation of
how long the payments last will be done for you.
-
Life - With a life payout option, you will receive payments for the
remainder of your life. The risk with this option is that if you die before receiving the
full-accumulated value of your investment, you could lose some of the value of your
investment.
-
Life with period certain - With this option, equal payments are made to you throughout your lifetime or
to your beneficiary for a guaranteed minimum period of time.
-
Life with refund - Under this option you elect to receive a life income; but if you don't live
long enough to receive all your premiums back, it will be refunded to your named
beneficiary.
-
Joint and survivorship - This payout option provides for payments over the lives of two individuals
and can also be combined with period certain options.
Wieben Insurance Services
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