Annuities can be a valuable investment vehicle to provide income streams during a long term retirement. There are a number of different annuity options including: Variable Annuities, Fixed Annuities, Equity Indexed Annuities, Guaranteed Annuity Contracts and Two-tier Annuities. Selecting the proper annuity is important to ensure you are maximizing your retirement income.
A fixed annuity provides a guaranteed interest rate and can provide a great compliment to the rest of your portfolio which should be diversified among more aggressive investments to keep pace with inflation. A variable annuity gives you the ability to invest in the stock market will simultaneously giving you protection from losing a large percentage of your retirement assets.
When withdrawing assets in retirement you may utilize guaranteed aspects of these annuity contracts to provide fixed income for years. You can ensure you will not outlive this portion of your retirement savings regardless of how long you live or how the stock market performs.
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