May 5th, 2009
Annuity is a fixed amount of money received for the whole life or a definite time period specified and agreed upon, in the contract. A savings account is the most common example of an annuity, where the annuitant deposits the principal amount of money to earn a certain percentage. The annuitants may invest this money in business, insurance companies or lend it to individuals. The percentage of the income is specified at the time of agreement. This serves as a partial return of the principal amount and an additional income, simultaneously.
In case of group annuity contracts, the periodic payments are made to one of the employers, covered by a master contract signed by the employer. Retirement annuities are paid only post-retirement. In case of the annuitant?s death, before the expiry of the agreed period or the annuitant?s decision to surrender the policy, a certain amount is paid back to the annuitant?s beneficiary.
A fixed annuity refers to a specific amount of payment after the defined period, irrespective of the financial crisis faced by the company. In case of a variable annuity, the payment amount depends on the success of the investment and fluctuates accordingly. Straight annuities are contracts for making variable payments on a monthly or yearly basis, while life annuities are paid only during the lifetime of the annuitant and ceases with death.
Deferred annuity payments commence on a decided future date, provided the annuitant is alive. This also delays the income tax payments till the annuity payment starts. A refund annuity promises to refund certain amount of cash during the lifetime of the annuitant and in case of death the person?s estate receives the money. Joint annuities are payable to two persons named in the agreement, one of whom receives the money, in case the other dies.
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May 5th, 2009
Before you can join the growing ranks of annuity buyers, you need to know something about the variety of annuities that are available to you. There are a good number of annuities available and finding the right one for you can be difficult. You’d be wise to consult with a qualified professional before buying any annuity; they can take a look at your personal circumstances and help find the right annuity for you.
The first decision you’re going to have to make is how you want to actually buy your annuity. You could either buy it outright or even by installments. A lump sum annuity is pretty straightforward to understand. You just promptly pay your money in and then you can just sit back and watch as your investment grows. Fortunately, for those of us who are on tighter budgets, you can choose to pay monthly instead.
When you start to consider an annuity, you’ll soon discover that there are basically three kinds of annuities that are offered to you. These are the variable annuity, the fixed annuity, and also the hybrid annuity.
A variable annuity is an investment, where the payments you receive are determined by how well your mutual funds perform. You can select the mutual funds from a list or you can ask the annuity company to choose them. The big downfall with this annuity is if the market was to perform very badly, you could end up losing all of the money that you invested in this annuity.
Hybrid annuities are similar to variable annuities but with an hybrid annuity you will always receive a set minimum payment. This gives you the advantage of still being able to benefit when the market does well and also receive a set minimum payment when the market doesn’t do so well.
When buying an annuity, you’ll find that you can choose how you want to withdraw funds from it. You can choose to receive either a lump sum or you can receive payments over a set period of time.
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May 5th, 2009
While there is not a lack of information on annuities, there certainly is a lack of good information. In an age full of information, we are constantly bombarded with irrelevant data. Annuities are great investment vehicles. Annuities are bad investment vehicles. Annuities were my mom’s worst nightmare. You have heard all the stories. So what do you do?
When it comes to annuity investment guides what we have tried to do is offer the truth. “Annuities: The Shocking Truths Revealed,” is about getting rid of the investment noise that we are bombarded with constantly. It is a no-nonsense approach about the good, the bad, and the ugly of fixed annuities, variable annuities, equity index annuities and even life insurance to minimize estate taxes. It was written because I believe there is not a good enough annuities investment guide to help the average person understand their annuities.
Furthermore, it was written because people need to know the truth about their annuities. They need to know the dirty little lies insurance agents are using to sell annuities. It is outrageous to see so many people fooled by their investment counselors and financial advisors. One section actually talks about how to tell a good agent from a bad agent. Furthermore, it just tells in plain english what annuities are good for and what annuities are not good for. People can actually read this annuity investment guide and walk away feeling at least knowledgeable in the area of an annuity.
So if you are looking for the right annuity investment guide, you have come to the right place. Learn the truth about your annuities from an unbiased perspective.
For the most part, information is free, but wisdom is priceless. And as one wise man once said, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!” Knowledge and education about annuities and investments is valuable. Get it from a trusted source and read an annuity book that can truly help you decide on annuities and your future.
Ignorance is not bliss…
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May 5th, 2009
Annuities are one of the most important and inevitable and lucrative policies for the well being of the senior citizens of America. However, at some crossroads of life one might need to have their future to be planned in a proper way, especially during and after the retirement phase. A senior citizen, anyone of age sixty-five and above, has the full right to utilize his or her insurances, life insurances, liquid assets, pension schemes, financial plans and such other things including the retirement plans. Proper planning is key to the secured future. An annuity is the ideal plan for such phases of life.
The best age to buy an annuity is 55 or older. An annuity is the ideal life planning tool for a senior citizen that comes up to him or her with all the advantages near the end of his life. The person who buys such an annuity plan to secure their post-retirement phase is called the annuity buyer. This annuity buyer has to pay what are called basis points. These are basically the fees for the annuities. The annuity fees or the basis points show a percentage of one’s investment. But one has to be very careful before committing him or herself in buying such annuities. There are a lot of guides on the issue that sometimes prove to be of great use to those who are thinking of buying such annuities. There are books available in the market and there are a lot of online resources as well to guide you through the dos, don’ts and other aspects of annuities.
An example would clear out the importance of annuity buyer guides. All the basic lucrative returns of an annuity is already known to us, but one should pay attention to the fact that one can’t withdraw the money until one is 59½ or one is hit with a 10% penalty. There a lot of other such little things about which one should have a prior knowledge. This is where the annuity buyer guides come in useful.
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