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Are you prepared for a retirement that could last 20 or 30 years, or more? Insurance products like annuities can help provide a steady and reliable income stream for the rest of your life, while investment products help create opportunities for long-term growth. We can help you incorporate both in a financial strategy designed to put you on the path to the retirement lifestyle you want.

Generally speaking, the longer you invest, the more potential your money has to grow. If you have a longer time horizon, you may want to consider a more aggressive asset allocation with at least a portion of your money. However, if you’d like to reduce your market risk, there are more conservative investment options available that can provide the potential for wealth accumulation. Using these investment options in conjunction with insurance contracts such as annuities can help you design a more conservative retirement strategy.

With pension offerings on the decline, you may want to consider a fixed income component to your financial strategy. Adding an annuity may be an opportunity to help ensure a portion of your retirement income will be guaranteed.

What is an annuity?

An annuity is a contract you purchase from an insurance company. For the premium you pay, you receive certain fixed and/or variable interest crediting options able to compound tax-deferred until withdrawn. When you are ready to receive income distributions, this vehicle offers a variety of guaranteed payout options — some even for life.

Most annuities have provisions that allow you to withdraw a percentage of the value of the contract each year up to a certain limit. However, withdrawals will reduce the contract value and the value of any protected benefits. Excess withdrawals above the restricted limit typically incur “surrender charges” within the first five to 15 years of the contract. Because they are designed as a long-term retirement income vehicle, annuity withdrawals made before age 59 ½ are subject to a 10% penalty fee, and all withdrawals may be subject to income taxes.

Inflation, unexpected expenses, once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunities … Predicting the unpredictable is impossible. That’s why it may be prudent to have a certain amount of your nest egg in investment products.

Investing involves risk, and there are no ways to guarantee that you won’t lose money, but having a certain portion of your assets in the market gives you the opportunity to build on your existing wealth. Over time, that growth potential could help you offset the effects of inflation and other factors that erode the purchasing power of your assets — assets you may be counting on to see you to and through retirement.

From stocks and bonds to mutual funds and retirement accounts, we can help you figure out where investment products might fit in your overall financial strategy.

When you change jobs or retire, there are four things you can generally do with the assets in any employer-sponsored retirement plan:

• Leave the money where it is
• Take the cash (and pay income taxes and perhaps an additional 10% federal tax if you are younger than age 59 ½)
• Transfer the money to another employer plan (if the new plan allows)
• Roll the money over into an IRA Rolling over from one qualified plan to another qualified plan allows your money to continue growing tax-deferred until you receive distributions in retirement. We can help you determine if a rollover is the right move for you.