As we near the age of 60, retirement planning becomes a priority. For those of us who have saved between $100,000 and $1,000,000 we must avoid losses in the stock market, while still maximizing the accumulation with little or no risk to losing principal. Our risk tolerance is minimal as it should be, and we must start planning how our accumulated assets will provide income for us throughout the course of these last few decades.
A close friend of mine lost her husband a few years ago and came to me for advice on how to plan her retirement. In fact, she asked me to attend the meeting with her Wells Fargo Investment Advisor to talk about annuities. They were asking her to sign some papers of which she did not understand. Without going into detail, this visit motivated me to find the best annuity in the marketplace that “guaranteed” the greatest payout for life. The annuity would have to protect from loss of principal to ensure no risk at all.
Since I have access to essentially any insurance company, my exhaustive annuity hunt ended when I found an Equity Index Annuity from an A-rated insurance company. To my surprise, no other annuity came close to matching the lifetime income stream! This annuity is for anyone who is 50-70 years of age with at least 5 years (payout is maximized if one can wait 10 years before payout stream starts) before they require an income stream.
With the link below, I have set up a simplistic means for you can calculate your guaranteed income for life. This calculator illustrates a single person, but it can also project a couple’s payout over the course of both lifetimes. This Retirement Calculator can be utilized for your personal situation. The minimum initial deposit is $100,000.