60: What Women Need to Know About Annuities

Take Back Retirement

Today, we talk all about annuities. Yet another powerful tool in your toolbox for taking control of your retirement, you can think of an annuity as a way to “buy” your own pension.

But it’s just that: a tool. Like any other financial vehicle, there are pros, cons, and tradeoffs to think about.

An annuity is a contract issued mostly from insurance companies that provides a guaranteed income stream. Mainly, annuities are used for retirement.

Some people look at annuities as the best thing since sliced bread. For others, annuities are a total time and money-sink to even consider. But for most folks, we’d wager the reality is somewhere in between.

Listen in as Stephanie and Kevin lay out the must-knows of the complicated topic of annuities, and suggest some questions to ask oneself when it comes to making use of a specific annuity for your retirement plan.

Key Topics:

• “What the heck is an annuity?” (3:30)
• Why you need to wait until you’re 59½ before taking money out of an annuity (4:38)
• How annuities are taxed (5:42)
• Taking advantage of the lifetime income option (8:32)
• Other income options to consider (11:46)
• The cons of annuities and how best to work around them (15:24)
• The Four Ls of our needs in retirement (16:40)
• Deciphering important annuity jargon (17:48)
• Fitting an annuity into your retirement plan (20:17)
• Questions to ask yourself (23:00)

Resources:

• Take Back Retirement Episode 12: What Women Need to Know About IRA’s, with Sarah Brenner
• Take Back Retirement Episode 20: Women + Roth IRA’s – What Should You Be Aware Of?
• Take Back Retirement Episode 3: Turning Your Retirement Savings to Retirement Income
• Take Back Retirement Episode 15: What Women Need to Know About Social Security

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You can find the transcript and more information about this episode at www.takebackretirement.com.

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