IRAs, 401(k)s & Annuities

BNJA has strategies to ensure that you won’t outlive your money.

Annuities are basically a series of payments. The owner makes either one or a series of purchase payments during the accumulation phase. Then down the road, the principal and interest are repaid during the distribution phase.

There are several types of annuities including fixed, variable or equity-indexed. But some of these can carry a high-risk. IRA accounts are always subject to income taxes, and annuity distributions require that the gains come out first and are taxed as ordinary income.

Here are some BNJA strategies:

Living Benefit Rider
A guaranteed lifetime income rider is available with many different annuity contracts. It works a lot like a pension or Social Security. The good news is, your retirement income won’t be affected by fluctuations in the stock market. It’s guaranteed. In addition, some of the more popular lifetime benefit riders include income doublers that can double the income and can be used for types of care.

Annuity Maximization
If you have annuities that you don’t plan on using, then we encourage you to start taking distributions— which will include the interest you’re earning each year— pay the income tax, and use the proceeds to buy a life insurance policy capable of creating generational wealth. We use this strategy in several different plans.

Life Insurance
Life insurance can be a more efficient vehicle than IRA accounts or annuities because of how the distributions are structured. One idea is to withdraw your basis first, which is a tax-free event. Then make your withdrawals as policy loans — also tax-free events — which get paid back from the tax-free death benefit when you eventually pass away.