With Amerity Financial's retirement solutions as the foundation for your retirement, you’ll have peace of mind knowing you will have results you can count on. Will Rogers once said: “I’m more concerned with the return of my money than the return on my money”. We take one step further and believe it’s equally important to know that not only will your money be there when you need it, but that you can count on performance to meet your future retirement needs.
Our mission is to work with you one on one to determine where Amerity Financial can play a part in your retirement lasting your lifetime. We have learned from years of experience working with retirees what is most important to them concerning their retirement assets.
We've Got The Solutions!
Amerity Financial can help you receive guaranteed growth on the savings you've set aside for retirement income. Contact us using the form to learn how you can receive income for life from what we believe are some of the most reputable and highest rated companies (according to AM Best) available.
No single product meets all of an individual's retirement needs, so...
Consumers should diversify with a combination of products that may include annuities, mutual funds, stocks and bonds. When it comes to investing safely for retirement, Suze Orman says "Money needed for retirement income should be out of the market 10 years before you retire.” At Amerity Financial, we agree.
Generally speaking, an increasing proportion of one's savings should be allocated to "safe" options as they get closer to retirement.
"Money needed for retirement income should be out of the market 10 years before you retire."
- Suze Orman
A Safe Retirement Option: Annuities
What is an annuity?
An annuity is a contract from an insurer that you can use to grow money for and during your retirement on a tax-deferred basis. Annuities are a popular choice for investors who want to receive a steady income stream in retirement. The income you receive from an annuity can be paid out monthly, quarterly, annually or even in a lump sum. Please note, the term "annuity" comes with a certain stigma. One reason for this is there are many options out there, some good and some bad. If the financial professional "selling" the annuity is not an expert in the subject matter, they are not able to adequately educate you on how they work, and they likely will not select the proper product for your situation.
Here's how an annuity works:
You allocate funds into the annuity which grows tax deferred until you need the money, and then when you need your funds you can opt to take a lump sum or receive payments in a manner that best suits your needs. You can opt to receive payments for the rest of your life, or for a set number of years. How much you can receive depends on whether you opt for a guaranteed payout, or a payout stream determined by the performance of your annuity's underlying investments.
Explaining how annuities work is best done one-on-one as clearly, they can get quite complex. Our financial professionals will take the time to determine what we believe are some of the best options for your situation as well as strive to fully educate you on how they work. We will not issue an annuity unless we are confident you understand everything. Also, it's important to note we are not "captive" to any particular insurance company and have access to the entire annuity "marketplace." Thus, our suggestions are not biased toward any one issuer.
CASE STUDY: HOW LEE AND EILEEN USE AMERITY FINANCIAL'S RETIREMENT SOLUTIONS:
The following is a hypothetical situation and is not reflective of an actual client's situation, experience or results. This is only meant to provide an example. Each person's situation is different and must be discussed with their insurance professional. There is no guarantee actual results will be the same or similar to the sample case study.
This is Lee and Eileen. At 65 and 70 years old, they have been retired for a few years now. One of Lee's long-term objectives is to provide a comfortable and financially independent retirement for himself and his wife.
Concern
Since retiring, Lee has become very concerned about the safety of his money. He does not want to lose what he worked so hard to create. Also, Lee and his wife have grown accustom to a certain style of living and know that they will need to supplement their retirement income to keep it. Lee and his wife want a guaranteed stream of income that neither will be able to outlive.
Proposed Solution
Lee could purchase a fixed indexed annuity for him and his wife in joint ownership. An indexed annuity is a fixed annuity that has its interest credits linked to an index that will lock in interest earnings up to a stated cap every year that there is a gain in the index. Lee’s fixed indexed annuity would not participate in any negative index returns, protecting his annuity from any decrease in value (except for withdrawals and elective rider fees).
Using $100,000 from his accumulated retirement assets, Lee and his wife decide to purchase a fixed Indexed Annuity. To improve their flexibility in managing the accumulation and distribution phases of his annuity he decides when he takes income and for how long, all the while maintaining control of his fixed indexed annuity.
The Accumulation Phase
By adding the Lifetime Income Rider to their fixed index annuity Lee and his wife have given themselves extraordinary flexibility. They decide when and how they receive supplemental income. The longer Lee and his wife wait to receive Lifetime Income Payments, the more their total income payments will grow. Through the lifetime Income rider, Lee is guaranteed 7% compounded growth factor on the income benefit value. At that rate the income benefit value of his annuity will double in 10 years if he makes no withdrawals from his fixed indexed annuity.
The Distribution Phase
As joint annuitants, Lee and his wife could begin receiving payments of 5% in year 1, about $5,000. But if they wait 10 years for the value to grow, their maximum annual withdrawal percentage will also be higher. After ten years, it would be 6%, or about $12,000 of guaranteed annual income for life.
*This hypothetical example assumes no Withdrawals, no additional Premium, and no restarts.
The above scenario, proposed solution, accumulation results and distribution results are a hypothetical example used for illustrative purposes only. Your Amerity Financial Professional can provide you with a projected income estimate based on your age and amount of Premium. Amerity Financial does not authorize its financial professionals, employees or representatives to give legal, tax or accounting advice. The information contained herein is our understanding of the current laws as they relate to annuities. These laws are subject to change in the future. Please consult your personal advisor for any tax, legal or accounting advice to determine if a single premium immediate annuity or a deferred annuity is right for you.
How you could use an indexed annuity...
Obviously, you'll be planning your own retirement - not Lee's. This is simply an easy way to show you what's possible with an indexed annuity. There are many benefits to an annuity beyond being a stable source of income for the rest of your life.
A local Amerity Financial professional can help you identify all the ways to make an indexed annuity work for you.