Annuities

Annuities are one of the many investment products we use at Financial Balance Group, LLC to help our clients with retirement planning. Depending on your age, primary concerns and overall investment objective, an annuity could provide great value to your personal retirement plan.

What is an Annuity?

An annuity is an insurance product generally intended to help protect you against the risk of outliving your assets, or running out of money during retirement. It is an insurance contract between an insurance company and an annuitant (investor) and has the primary goal of accumulating and protecting retirement assets to eventually distribute through a lump sum payment or guaranteed income stream.

Benefits of an Annuity

Depending on your circumstances, an annuity could provide significant value during retirement. Amongst the many benefits of annuities, here are just a few:

Types of Annuities

Financial Balance Group, LLC offers a variety of annuity options which are carefully reviewed to best fit each client’s individual needs and circumstances. Depending on an investor’s risk tolerance, time frame and investment objective, one type of annuity may be more advantageous than another. For general understanding, there are two primary types of annuities we offer:

• Fixed Annuities: Typically best for those who are interested in conservation of principal and a guaranteed rate of return. Fixed annuities are guaranteed products with which the annuitant bears no risk and the insurer bears all of it. Since fixed annuities are guaranteed products, they are actually considered as an insurance policy and not a security.
• Variable Annuities: Typically best for those who desire the potential for higher investment returns with the acceptance of market risk. With variable annuities, an annuitant’s assets are invested in money market, bond and stock portfolios options through one or more sub-accounts. Although there are some guarantees available with variable annuities, the annuitant generally bears the market risk of principal.

Purchasing An Annuity

Purchasing an annuity is similar to initially investing in any other investment account – the investor, or annuitant, can either make a single deposit or periodic payments. Unique to annuities, the annuitant can also select whether to begin taking immediate income distributions or to defer distributions until a future date. 

• Deferred annuities are used when an annuitant would prefer to postpone income distributions until a future date when he/she elects to receive them. This option allows for greater potential accumulation.
• Immediate annuities are used when the annuitant requires an immediate stream of income to begin – typically within 60 days. The payments can be structured to continue for an annuitant’s lifetime or specific period of time.

Is an Annuity Right For Me?

Annuities can be a great option for many adults approaching retirement age. Call 888-513-2300 or request a complimentary consultation today to have one of our financial representatives assist you in assessing whether an annuity could help you reach your financial objectives for retirement.

Variable Annuities are sold by prospectuses only. Prospectuses contain important information including fees and expenses. You should read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. You should also carefully consider the investment company’s investment objectives, risks charges and expenses before investing.