If this is your first year receiving retirement plan distributions and you made after-tax contributions, the plancost (your after-tax contributions) may be shown in box 9b of your Form 1099-R. If the information isn’t there, and you’re not sure if you made any after-tax payments to the plan, you should contact the administrator. What is […]

Period certain annuities let the customer to pick when and for how long they want to receive payments, which can then be distributed to beneficiaries. This is in contrast to the more traditional life, lifetime, or pure life annuity, which provides an income payout for the rest of the annuitant’s life, regardless of how long

The Annuity Commencement Date is the date on which annuity payments will start. At the time of application, the Contract Owner usually specifies the Annuity Commencement Date. When should I turn on my annuity? Starting an annuity at a later age is definitely the greatest option for someone with a relatively healthy lifestyle and strong

An annuity is a long-term investment issued by an insurance company that is intended to protect you from outliving your income. Your purchase payments (what you contribute) are turned into recurring payments that can last a lifetime through annuitization. What risk does an annuity cover? Longevity risk, or the risk of outliving one’s assets, is

In most cases, you will be charged an annual fee to maintain and administer your annuity. This might be more than your IRA or 401(k) expenses (k). It’s usually around 0.3 percent of your annuity contract’s value. This can also be a one-time cost of $25 or $30 every year. How much does a 1000

If you purchase a life annuity, you will get a set number of payments over a set length of time, typically 5, 10, or 15 years. That means that if you pass away before the conclusion of the time, your beneficiaries or estate will continue to receive payments until the end of the period. How

The 100 percent J&S annuity is a pension payment plan that pays you an actuarially reduced pension while continuing to pay your Spouse 100 percent of your monthly benefit after your death. You would receive greater benefit while living under the survivor benefit provision, but your Spouse would receive less benefit after your death. What

An annuity is a contract between you and an insurance firm that covers particular objectives such as principle protection, lifetime income, legacy planning, and long-term care costs. What is the best thing to do with an annuity? Fixed annuities are low-risk, short-term investments in which your money accumulates at a guaranteed pace over a set

When you purchase an annuity, you are pooling your risk with the other people who are also purchasing annuities. The insurance company from which you purchase the annuity manages that risk, and you pay a charge to reduce your risk. You may never make more money from an annuity than you put into it, or

MYGAs, or multi-year guaranteed annuities, are a type of fixed annuity that guarantees a stable interest rate for a set length of time, often three to ten years. MYGAs, like standard fixed annuities, are subject to surrender costs, which are penalties that an annuity holder must pay if he or she withdraws money from an