Question: I am considering adding an immediate annuity to my retirement portfolio. My research suggests these annuities make sense, but I wonder whether it would be better to purchase it from my 401(k) or my Roth IRA. What would you suggest? More
retirement income
Create a plan for pension-like retirement income
By Jerry Golden in Annuity, Social Security 7 Comments Tags: Annuities, Guaranteed Income, retirement income, Social Security
A generation ago, retirees could rely on workplace pensions, along with Social Security payments, to provide guaranteed income that would meet most, or perhaps all, of their living expenses.
That doesn’t happen anymore. When you plan your retirement, you must take responsibility yourself to create a pension substitute from a mix of options that you can combine and customize to meet your needs. Often advisors unfortunately limit those options to investments like stock and bond mutual funds – combined with a “withdraw until it runs out” strategy. That’s very far from a pension. More
Predicting the future of retirement
By Jerry Golden in Annuity Tags: Annuities, Guaranteed Income, retirement, retirement income
A radio show I heard recently referred to an observation from the author Kurt Vonnegut, who long ago suggested that the U.S. government create a new cabinet post called “Secretary of the Future.”
The czar would predict what the country needs to do to prepare for 20 to 50 years out. The show’s host asked the audience for topics that would most likely contribute to the country’s health.
Maximize tax benefits: Die broke in one investment account and rich in another
By Jerry Golden in Annuity 1 Comment Tags: Annuities, Dependable spendable income, Guaranteed Income, retirement income
Everyone’s goal is to pay as few taxes as possible, but when planning for retirement many investors and even their advisors neglect a basic concept:
Die broke in your IRA or 401(k) account and
die rich in your personal investment account.
The tax rules dictate where to die broke and where to die rich. With a little planning and asset management, anyone can do it. Instead of fighting the tax code, take advantage of it by putting each of your retirement investments – stocks, bonds or income annuities – in the account that benefits you most.
With smart allocations, you will realize potentially huge gains. More
Add guaranteed income to your retirement and worry less about the market
By Jerry Golden in Annuity Tags: Dependable spendable income, retirement income
When considering retirement, an obvious truth is that your approach should be different based on your age. In your 20s, 30s and 40s, you should be automatically putting money into your retirement account and pretty much ignore what the market is doing. You shouldn’t be too worried about what the level of the stock market is because you will benefit from so-called dollar-cost averaging, which over time allows you to buy into the market at a low average cost.
As you get closer to retirement, you must begin to figure out how much income you will earn from various sources to allow you to support your lifestyle. At this stage, individuals become very aware of exactly how much money they have and their behavior changes as a result. For instance, it’s normal to get nervous – or even panic – when the market crashes if it directly affects your living circumstances. More