by Dale L. Lazzarone, LUTCF
Financial Services Professional
New York Life
The good news is people are living longer these days. Thanks to medical advances and healthier lifestyles, life expectancy is on the rise. For someone retiring at age 65, that means retirement can last 30 or more years. The bad news is some of the traditional ways of funding retirement - such as company pensions and Social Security - are becoming less certain. Whereas your parents likely retired with a pension, few people are now covered by company-sponsored defined benefit pension plans. Social Security's solvency is in question. And, with more time spent in retirement, inflation also becomes a factor. The result? You'll have to fund more of your retirement out of your own pocket.
Hopefully, you've had the opportunity to accumulate retirement savings. However, if you are hesitant to simply spend down your nest egg to fund retirement, you have good reason. After all, you don't know how long your money needs to last - which means you could run out of money. And with the rising costs of living, making income last over time may be increasingly difficult to manage.
A Better Way to Manage Risk
That's why it's important to make sure that your retirement portfolio includes financial products providing guaranteed lifetime income. Imagine the peace of mind that comes from knowing you'll never run out of money, no matter how long you live. What's more, having guaranteed lifetime income can also help you optimize your income in retirement and plan the best use of your assets.
For instance by purchasing a Guaranteed Lifetime Income product, you can help ensure that certain expenses will always be covered. You can earmark the lifetime income to cover rent, medical bills, insurance costs, trips to visit family - in short, anything that you know will be a regular expense for the rest of your life. By knowing that guaranteed lifetime income will cover your regular expenses for the rest of your life, you can spend other assets with confidence and invest more aggressively, if you wish.
A Lifetime Income Annuity Provides the Guarantees You Need
A Lifetime Income Annuity is one type of product that provides guaranteed lifetime income. When you purchase a Lifetime Income Annuity, you receive guaranteed payments at regular intervals for as long as you live, no matter how long that may be, and no matter how the financial markets perform. A Lifetime Income Annuity can cover the life of one person or the lives of two people, and can be structured to provide guarantees and features that meet your unique retirement income needs.
Also, many Lifetime Income Annuity policies come with a number of features, which can help you protect against the effects of inflation, manage unforeseen circumstances, make the most of your retirement income sources, and more.
In addition, a Lifetime Income Annuity can provide you with tax advantages, the nature of which depends on the type of money you use to purchase your policy. If you use pretax dollars to fund your policy, the income payments you receive automatically satisfy the IRS's requirement that you withdraw Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) from tax qualified plans. You can also choose to roll retirement plan assets into a Lifetime Income Annuity, which turns that money into a steady stream of income you can enjoy throughout your retirement.
Your Retirement Can Be Everything that You Expect
Whether you envision a retirement of travel, hobbies, volunteering, or spending time with family and friends, you'll need income to support the retirement lifestyle you've imagined. That's why Guaranteed Lifetime Income Annuity products are crucial to consider - to help you enjoy peace of mind in your retirement knowing your income will last as long as you live.
(1-Guaranteed Lifetime Income refers to certain annuity contracts issued by New York Life Insurance Company and Annuity Corporation.) (Dale Lazzarone, LUTCF, a Financial Services Professional with New York Life, is located at 3716 Lakeside Dr., #200, Reno, NV 89509. He can be reached by calling (775) 673-4456, (775) 846-0044, or online at www.TheLazzaroneGroup.com)