Financial Literacy

Christopher Drew, the founder of Drew Capital Group recently published an article for Benzinga to discuss 10 things he believes everyone should do to stay on track financially.

When mapping out a financial plan, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Now, with inflation at its highest in decades, only one-third of Americans expect their financial situation to improve in 2022. Nevertheless, Christopher Drew believes that anyone can act to improve, and he laid out a 10-step ongoing to-do list to guide anyone looking for a place to start. Here’s how to stay on top of your affairs.

1. Do a deep dive into your spending and recast your budget.

Eliminate excess spending and wasteful patterns that detract from your savings and retirement.

2. Evaluate your debts.

Commit to lowering your debt by paying the most expensive debts first. You can also renegotiate your interest rates or transfer debt to a card with 0% interest.

3. Increase your retirement contributions.

Eliminate debt and contribute to retirement accounts that potentially provide growth and help build your nest egg. If your company offers a 401(k) plan, contributing pre-tax income to a 401(k) can help build your retirement tax-deferred and with compound interest.

4. Consider opening an HSA.

A health savings account takes pre-tax contributions and allows you to use them on medical expenses not covered by your insurance plan. An HSA requires you to be enrolled in a high-deductible health plan. A High-Deductible Health Plan, which you are required to have to qualify for an HSA, can put a greater financial burden on you than other types of health insurance. There are advantages and disadvantages to HSA’s, and you should always consult your financial advisor regarding your own personal situation.

5. Review your estate plan.

A proper estate plan can help your family rather than burdening them with tasks. This can include drawing up wills and living wills, designating power of attorney, and making beneficiary designations.

6. Review your insurance plans.

Check your insurance plans like life, home and auto to determine if you need more coverage. Another important consideration is for the possibility that you may need long-term care insurance.

7. Plan for life events.

Everyone knows how important an emergency fund is for events like medical expenses and accidents, but it’s also necessary to plan before marriage, having a baby, purchasing a home or car, or changing jobs.

8. Consider a home office tax deduction.

Working remotely may have changed your ability to claim part of your home as a business expense. It is always helpful to consult a business or tax professional to see if you qualify.

9. Build an emergency fund.

We think your emergency fund should hold six months’ worth of expenses and be separate from your personal savings. Adding periodically can be the best way to watch it grow, contributing when you receive bonuses or tax refunds.

10. Evaluate your investments.

Assess your risk tolerance and rebalance your portfolio accordingly. You can work with a financial professional to set new goals and draw a map to reach them.

If you have any questions about financial health and how you can improve your situation, please give us a call! You can reach Drew Capital Management, in Tampa, Florida at (813) 820-0069.

To read the entire article and learn more about Christopher Drew’s financial to-do list, click here.

This material is provided as a courtesy and for educational purposes only.  Please consult your investment professional, legal or tax advisor for specific information pertaining to your situation. Advisory services offered through Drew Capital Management, a Member of Advisory Services Network, LLC. Insurance products and services offered through Drew Capital Group. Advisory Services Network, LLC and Drew Capital Group are not affiliated.

National Annuity Awareness Month is upon us! Let’s go over how annuities can be an important part of a retirement plan.

June is National Annuity Awareness Month, giving us the perfect reason to discuss how they can positively impact your retirement. Annuities have always played a role in retirement planning, but with growing uncertainty and market volatility, their importance has boomed. Certain annuities offer the chance for growth along with the protection of principal during market downturns which is guaranteed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance carrier.

While they can be a vital part of the retirement-planning process, annuities can sometimes be overlooked by advisors who focus strictly on accumulation and stock market investments. For people getting close to retirement and those without the appetite or flexibility for stock market risk, annuities can be an attractive option to guarantee income for life.

In fact, annuities were created for retirement; they were first invented during ancient Roman times to compensate retired soldiers. They’re meant to help you generate income once you stop collecting wages. There are many different types of annuities, but fixed and fixed indexed annuities are different than retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs in that they are not subject to market risk, and they offer guarantees.

In other words, fixed and fixed indexed annuities can offer a guaranteed income stream to eliminate some of the uncertainty that comes with retiring. It’s important to understand fixed and fixed indexed annuities are not investments, they are contracts. Even though they may credit interest based on market gains, they are not actually invested in the market at all. Fixed and fixed indexed annuities are contracts between you and the issuing insurance company, who again, based on their claims-paying ability, guarantee your principal and sometimes offer participation in stock market upside.

One of the main concerns of Americans on their way into their golden years is funding a secure retirement. In fact, a recent study showed that 56% were worried about running out of money in the next stage of their lives ^[1]. That worry seems to be well-founded, as a 2019 study projected that over 40% of U.S. households will run out of money in retirement ^[2].

One of the biggest reasons retirees run out of money is sequence of returns risk. This can happen when clients withdraw money from accounts early in retirement in a down market. The withdrawals can then out-pace the growth of the account, making it more likely that a person completely drains their funds while still living.

A fixed indexed annuity can counter sequence of returns risk by providing a guaranteed lifetime income option. Under a properly-structured fixed indexed annuity, the principal and the lifetime income benefit are both protected, which can be beneficial in a market crash. They also offer flexibility in diversifying your portfolio, as retirees with a guaranteed lifetime income benefit can keep other assets invested in the market, conceivably giving them a chance to wait out valleys and plateaus.

Some annuities are even designed to help combat inflation by offering a COLA, or cost of living adjustment. Considering the 2021 inflation rate was the highest America has seen since 1981^[3], it’s no wonder experts are expecting an increase in inflation-protected annuities ^[4].

While annuities are popular among those looking for protection as well as growth potential, purchasing one can be treacherous without proper help. There are many different types of annuities, and they won’t all offer identical benefits or protections. For example, variable annuities are directly invested in the market and carry the same risk that any market investment would. There are pros and cons to each type, and innovative insurance companies are working to design new annuity products with enhanced benefits every single day.

If you have any questions about annuities or how to protect your retirement funds, please give us a call! You can reach Drew Capital Group Private Wealth Management in Tampa, Florida by calling (813) 820-0069.

Sources

1. https://www.nirsonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FINAL-Retirement-Insecurity-2021-.pdf
2. https://www.ebri.org/content/retirement-savings-shortfalls-evidence-from-ebri-s-2019-retirement-security-projection-model
3. https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-inflation-rate-history-by-year-and-forecast-3306093
4. https://ifamagazine.com/article/inflation-could-lead-to-a-resurgence-in-popularity-of-annuities-says-continuum/

This material is provided as a courtesy and for educational purposes only.  Please consult your investment professional, legal or tax advisor for specific information pertaining to your situation.

Variable annuities are offered only by prospectus.  Carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of variable annuities before investing.  This and other information is contained in each fund’s prospectus, which can be obtained from your investment professional and should be read carefully before investing.  Guarantees are based upon the claims paying ability of the issuer.

An indexed annuity is for retirement or other long-term financial needs.  It is intended for a person who has sufficient cash or other liquid assets for living expenses and other unexpected emergencies, such as medical expenses. Guarantees provided by annuities are subject to the financial strength of the issuing company and not guaranteed by any bank or the FDIC.

Indexed annuities do not directly participate in any stock or equity investment.  Clients who purchase indexed annuities are not directly investing in the financial market. Market indices may not include dividends paid on the underlying stocks and therefore may not reflect the total return of the underlying stocks; neither a market index nor any indexed annuity is comparable to a direct investment in the financial markets.

Because June is Annuity Awareness Month, here is an overview about them.

Annuity product designs and types continue to evolve, primarily to meet the demands of people nearing retirement. In addition to their original purpose of providing retirement income, insurance companies have developed hybrid policies, adding features to address the multiple risks consumers face as they get older.

The most important thing you should know about annuities is that they are insurance policies, or contracts between you and an insurance company. Guarantees in them are backed by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company.

As with any contract, it’s important to read and understand the fine print before you sign, and you should compare policies from multiple insurance companies to find the best value. That’s where a good independent financial advisor can help.

Fixed Annuities

Fixed annuities are probably the easiest type of annuity to understand. (They are also the oldest—a simple form of the fixed annuity was originally created for Roman soldiers who grew too old to serve.) An insurance company will guarantee* a fixed interest rate on your fixed annuity contract for a selected term, usually from one to 15 years. You can usually purchase a fixed annuity with either a lump sum of money or a series of payments over time.

At the end of the contract term, you can take the money out, put it into another investment, or “annuitize,” meaning you can begin to take periodic payments over time to create income for retirement. This is called the “payout phase” of an annuity contract and it may last for a specified number of months, years, or be guaranteed* for as long as you live.

If you do choose to annuitize a fixed annuity policy, you can begin to receive periodic payments at once (called an immediate fixed) or you can wait until a certain age or time in the future to start receiving payments (called a deferred fixed).

If you purchase one of these annuities with non-qualified money (meaning you have already paid taxes on it), the interest in the annuity policy accrues on a tax-deferred basis. At the point where you take the money out of the annuity or begin taking periodic annuity payments, distributions are taxed based on an “exclusion ratio” so that you only pay taxes on the interest or gains.

If you purchase one of these annuities with qualified money, such as by rolling it over from a traditional 401(k) or IRA, distributions are 100% taxable, since you have not paid any taxes on any of the money yet. As with any qualified plan, if you take or withdraw money before age 59-1/2 you may owe additional tax penalties.

Variable Annuities

Variable annuities were developed in the 1950s. The best way to explain variable annuities is to compare them to fixed annuities. First of all, most variable annuities require a prospectus since part of your money will actually be invested in the stock market, called “sub-account investments.” That means that there is market risk involved with variable annuities, because you can either make money on the amount invested in sub-accounts, or you can lose it depending on market performance.

Variable annuities are usually purchased with the expectation that at some point the contract owner will annuitize or begin taking periodic payments. These are called deferred variable annuity contracts. (You can also purchase an immediate variable annuity contract.)

The important thing to understand about the variable annuity contract is that your periodic annuity payments may fluctuate based on stock market performance, depending on policy terms. And it’s possible that some variable annuity policies can lose principal due to stock market losses.

Variable annuities often come with a death benefit for your beneficiaries based on the contract terms, but some specify that there must be enough money left in the policy after annuitization payments have been taken out and/or will pay the death benefit as long as the sub-accounts have not lost too much money.

Fixed Indexed Annuities

Fixed indexed annuities were first designed in 1995. The biggest difference between them and variable annuities is that fixed indexed annuities are not actually invested in the stock market so they are not subject to market risk. With fixed indexed annuities, after you have owned the policy for a specified number of years your principal is guaranteed*.

With fixed indexed annuities, any policy gains are credited and then locked in annually, bi-annually or at specified points in time. The gains credited to the policy are determined by the insurance company based on the performance of a selected index (for instance, the S&P 500) or multiple indexes. Some fixed indexed annuity gains are capped relative to index performance, meaning you can only be credited a certain percentage, but some are uncapped.

Index performance is used as a benchmark for policy gains or periodic crediting and lock-in. With fixed indexed annuities, you have the potential to participate in market gains. And if the benchmark index loses money, your policy is credited with 0%, keeping the most current locked-in principal value in place.

Fixed indexed annuities can be purchased on an immediate or deferred basis. They can be purchased with qualified or non-qualified money. And they can offer a lifetime income option and/or a death benefit.

Other Things to Know About Annuities

*The guarantees provided by annuities rely on the claims-paying ability and financial strength of the issuing insurance company.

Annuities must be considered carefully based on your particular situation because they are not liquid. Almost all annuities are subject to early withdrawal penalties. Make sure you understand the contract terms and the type of annuity you are purchasing. Your financial advisor can help you compare and analyze policies.

This article is provided for information purposes only and is accurate to the best of our knowledge. This article is not to be relied on or considered as investment or tax advice.

Have questions about annuities? Please call us! You can reach Drew Financial Private Capital in Florida by calling (813) 820-0069.

References to J.W. Cole Advisors, Inc. (JWCA) are from prior registrations with that company. J.W. JWCA and Advisory Services Network, LLC are not affiliated entities.