How do you anticipate spending your retirement? Exploring new passions, spending more time with family and friends, volunteering, traveling? An annuity can help accumulate retirement assets and provide multiple options for taking retirement income – including the option to receive a steady stream of guaranteed income for life – so you can make the most of your well-deserved retirement years.
An immediate annuity offers the opportunity to generate a guaranteed stream of income, starting within a year after purchase. Your initial lump sum of money is converted into a series of income payments, in a frequency of your choosing: monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually.
A deferred annuity offers the opportunity to grow your assets while you wait to begin receiving your future income stream. During this time of accumulation, your assets grow tax deferred. In other words, you will not pay any taxes on your investment gains until you begin receiving income from your annuity investment. Tax deferral allows you to grow your assets faster, because gains aren’t reduced annually by taxes.
There are different types of deferred annuities, each with a different way of growing assets:
Immediate Annuity: An annuity contract that you generally buy with a lump sum and from which you begin receiving income within a short period, always less than 13 months. An immediate annuity can be either fixed or variable.
Income Options: The various ways to receive income payments that an annuity contract offers. Many annuities offer a variety of options you can choose from, including guaranteed income for life.
Income for a Guaranteed Time Period Annuity: An annuity income option that guarantees payments for a specific time period, usually from 5 to 30 years. If the annuitant dies before all payments have been made, then the owner (or beneficiary if the owner is deceased) will receive the balance of payments for the rest of the guaranteed period. You may be able to choose fixed or variable payments, depending on the annuity.
Income for Life Annuity: An annuity income option that guarantees income for the life of the annuitant, no matter how long he/she lives. The amount of the payment depends on your account value and the life expectancy of the annuitant. The payment amounts may be fixed or variable, depending on the annuity.
Income for Life with a Guaranteed Time Period Annuity: An annuity income option that guarantees payments for the annuitant's life, with a guaranteed number of years. If the annuitant dies during the guaranteed period, payments will continue to the annuity's owner (or beneficiary if the owner is deceased), for the remainder of the period. Many annuities also offer this option for the lives of two annuitants. You may be able to choose fixed or variable payments, depending on the annuity.
Income for Two Lives Annuity: An annuity income option that guarantees income for the lives of two annuitants. If one annuitant passes away, payments continue as long as the other annuitant is living. Payments stop once both annuitants are no longer alive. Payments after the first annuitant's death may be the same, or lower, depending on what was selected at the time of purchase. You may be able to choose fixed or variable payments, depending on the annuity.