Jay Gray has over ten years of experience offering fixed and index annuities for sale. Whatever your financial goals are Jay can help you create a customized plan to meet them. Jay is an independent agent who supports clients in Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista and all communities in San Diego, Riverside and Orange Counties. Receive a free quote call Jay at 1-877-777-7055.
Definition of an Annuity
An Annuity is A contract sold by an insurance company designed to provide payments to the holder at specified intervals, usually after retirement. The holder is taxed only when they start taking distributions or if they withdraw funds from the account. Most annuities are tax-deferred, meaning that the earnings from investments in these accounts grow tax-deferred until withdrawal. Annuity earnings are also tax-deferred so they cannot be withdrawn without penalty until a certain specified age. An annuity has a death benefit equivalent to the higher of the current value of the annuity or the amount the buyer has paid into it. If the owner dies during the accumulation phase, his or her heirs will receive the accumulated amount in the annuity. This money is subject to ordinary income taxes in addition to estate.
With an immediate annuity you can turn your assets into regular payments beginning now and lasting for the rest of your life or for a specified period of time. At retirement, you can use distributions from defined contribution plans, 401(k)s or IRAs to fund an immediate annuity and create a personal pension.
Immediate annuities are single-payment annuities. Any large sum of cash from an inheritance, legal settlement, sale of a business or home can be converted into an income stream for the duration you specify. Immediate Annuities are not intended to offer liquidity or growth potential.
Income Annuities
An Income Annuity is a fixed or variable annuity that pays a certain monthly or (rarely) annual sum for the term of the annuity. The payments begin as soon as the annuitant buys the annuity. Usually, the annuity’s term is the remainder of the annuitant’s life, and sometimes the life of the surviving spouse, depending on the nature of the particular contract. An income annuity is usually purchased for a lump sum, and is designed to provide a stable income for the annuitant, generally in retirement.
Deferred Annuities
A deferred Annuity is not scheduled to begin payments until a given date. These annuities may be purchased with a single payment or, as is more often the case, with a series of periodic payments. Deferred annuities are most commonly purchased by individuals who want to make periodic payments during their working lives in order to receive monthly or annual income payments from the annuities during their retirement.
Fixed Annuities
A fixed annuity is a contract that allows you to accumulate earnings at a fixed rate during a build-up period. You pay the required premium, either in a lump sum or in installments.
The insurance company invests its assets, including your premium, so it will be able to pay the rate of return that it has promised to pay, then at a time you select, usually after you turn 59 1/2, you can choose to convert your account value to retirement income.
Among the alternatives is receiving a fixed amount of income in regular payments for your lifetime or the lifetimes of yourself and a joint annuitant. That’s is called annuitization. Or, you may select some other payout method.
The contract issuer assumes the risk that you could outlive your life expectancy and therefore collect income over a longer period than it anticipated. You take the risk that the insurance company will be able to meet its obligations to pay.
A variable annuity is an insurance company product designed to allow you to accumulate retirement savings.
When you purchase a variable annuity, either with a lump sum or over time, you allocate the premiums you pay among the various separate account funds offered in your annuity contract.
The tax-deferred return on your variable annuity fluctuates with the performance of the underlying investments in your separate account funds, sometimes called investment portfolios or subaccounts.
You may purchase qualified variable annuities, which are offered as options within an employer sponsored retirement savings plan, or nonqualified variable annuities. Nonqualified annuities are those you purchase on your own, often to supplement other retirement savings.
You can also choose an individual retirement annuity, which resembles an individual retirement account except that the underlying investments are separate account funds.
Among the appeals of both qualified and nonqualified variable annuities is the promise of a stream of income for life if you annuitize the assets in your account and the right to make tax-exempt transfers among separate account funds.
If you purchase a nonqualified annuity, there are no federal limits on the annual amounts you can invest, no requirement that you purchase the annuity with earned income, and no minimum required withdrawals beginning at age 70 1/2.
However, with both types of variable annuities, withdrawals before you reach age 59 1/2 may be subject to a 10% early withdrawal tax penalty.
An annuity with an interest rate linked to the performance of an equity index. Most annuities pay the interest rate stated in the contract, but an equity-indexed annuity pays a minimum interest rate, with the possibility of a higher rate depending on the performance of the relevant stock or equity index. Each plan uses a different methodology in determining how the higher interest rate is calculated. Common features in its calculation include a participation rate, which determines how much of the annuity is linked to the index, and the rate cap, which sets a maximum interest rate on some plans. Many equity-index annuities use the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Stock Price Index (S&P 500) as their benchmark.
CD annuities are a type of fixed annuity whose credited interest rate is fixed for a term identical to the surrender penalty period and the investment term of the annuity itself. As an example, consider a five-year CD annuity whose 6% interest rate is guaranteed for five years and whose schedule of surrender charges for early withdrawals also extends for five years from the date of purchase. CD annuities have terms ranging from 1-10 years.
CD annuities differ from the traditional fixed annuity, in which the initial credited interest rate for a fixed annuity is only guaranteed for as little as one year, with interest rates in succeeding years free to change each year in accordance with market conditions
We pride ourselves on our attentive service to our clients and our reputation for designing the best possible plan coverage. In fact we go so far as to guarantee no other agency can find you more comprehensive coverage for less premium.
Please feel free to contact us at 1-877-777-7055
Just Us Insurance is located in Oceanside.
To assist you , our Agents offer in home appointments in
Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Temecula,
Murrieta, Santee, El Cajon, San Clement, Mission Viejo, and Big Bear Lake.
Just Us Insurance operates in San Diego, Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino Counties.
