Annuities And Retirement Woes

Every day I speak to more and more people that are just out of luck when it comes to retiring on time.  Retire on your current income? No way. It saddens me to have to tell people that when they are so close to the "normal" retirement age.  It always better to know the truth and work from a solid base of truth when it comes to your finances and especially such an important event as retiring.

Retirement is about money.  You can retire as soon as you have enough income coming in or at least available to cover your expenses and your play money on a monthly basis plus an emergency fund.

How do you know when you have enough? If you have income investments just add them all up and check them against your income needs. That one is pretty simple. If you have a lot of stocks or mutual funds it is not so simple.

Investments that do not automatically produce income are counted differently.  I would use a round number of 4% or preferably less.  That means that 4% of your mutual funds and stocks is what to expect to be available in income.  In recent years 4% is asking a lot so let me clarify a bit.

You should not take money out during down years in the market unless absolutely necessary.  What? No income at all? The answer is no but it isn't really practical in most cases.  How do you solve the problem and make sure you never run out of money and that you can create the income you require?

Lifetime income benefit riders on fixed index annuities will do exactly what you need them to.  They will guarantee a percentage of return in retirement making planning very easy.   Consider how much it would help to know exactly how much you will get paid and know that your income will never go down.  Most are even inflation protected. Be sure to do your research and learn more about annuity basics before investing.

Take a look! You will be glad you did.