Saturday, January 3, 2009

Useful Essentials of Annuity Investment

Annuity investment is a good way to choose in order to produce a long-term income flow. Along with the long-term income stream, lots of people who are concerned about their tax posture turn to an annuity investment program. Annuity investments take a longer time than some other forms of investment. People who are looking for shorter term investments may not want to use annuities as their primary option, or perhaps not at all. It is highly recommended to check with a financial adviser you trust as annuity investments may be difficult.

Let’s start with that annuities are funded by a pool that is contributed to by many investors. The sum of money investor contributes to the pool is called a “premium”. How much each person’s premium is would be spelled out in the annuity investment contract which can be difficult and here you will probably need financial advisor’s help. There are also some others fees, for example administrative fees that, along with any other fees, are paid to the financial institution or insurance company that will administer the annuity. These companies invest the money from the pool and generate a profit and you would get a portion of the profit.

There are some of the other details specified in the annuity investment contract and they are referred to so-called “the life” of the contract which includes the period of time you would make payments into the funding pool and the period of time the annuity investment would pay you in the future. As concerning the payment, or payout, can be payments to you over a defined period of time. It should be pointed out that payout can also be a lump sum if the contract provides for a one-time payment.

Another important thing to mention is that the annuity contract will determine how long you will pay premiums and how many premiums you will be responsible for paying the fund administrator. The amount of money your annuity investment is worth is a combination of premiums that have accumulated, plus the amount of money the pool has earned, minus any administrative fees that have been paid out of the pool.

You can have the possibility to take money out of your accumulated value prior to the payout period actually starting with some annuity investments. Certainly, this decreases the value available to you when the program does reach the payout phase. You should also be aware that the contract is cancelled in the case that you withdraw all of your accumulated value of the annuity investment pool prior to the payout period. Keep in mind that taking any amount of money prior to the payout period you may be subjected to certain charges, such as “surrender charges”. You must also know that the earlier you withdraw money from the funding pool, the more likely it is you will erode your investment long-term.

The truth about annuities is very simple – you need to understand annuities before you decide on annuity investments. It means you to get answers to a few basic questions: “How is the investment administrator going to earn the interest for the annuity investment fund pool?” “What charges or fees (load) you will be responsible for with the specific annuity investment contract you are considering?” “How much the annuity will pay you at the payout phase?” “How long is it going to take to see the payout phase?” “How much are the premiums and how often are they paid by you and how are they paid?”

It is valuable to make sure the annuity investment plan payout is the amount and at the time you need. Simply saying, you should check that it meets your goals. You should also check out the company that will administer your annuity investment (pay a special attention to their history in terms of earnings generated, license, check carefully whether the annuity contract allows you the freedom you want in terms of early withdrawals).

Annuity investments may be just for you especially in the case that you are looking for a long-term investment with a guaranteed stream of income for a specific goal (education retirement). Another reason to choose annuities investments is an appropriate way for those who want to reduce their current tax burden by deferring some of their taxable income.



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