In mutual funds, there is no single option to invest. Based on the needs of the person, one can invest. This includes income need, an alternate source of income, life expectancy, risk tolerance etc. It is also important that retirees are careful where they invest as the investment is for their future. The thumb rule of investment is the 4% rule of investment. This means retirement income fund must provide you at least 4% return after taking into consideration the average rate of returns and inflation. With the above thumb rule, we can decide on the best retirement fund depending on your requirements. There are the income retirement fund and the income replacement fund designed with retirees in mind. The major goal for retirees is the preservation of their assets, income, and growth, in order. The goal of these funds is to give above zero returns or returns equaling inflation levels and growth of the assets. Another investment opportunity is investing in Balanced funds. These are asset allocation or hybrid funds. The money is distributed conservatively among, bond, stocks and money market. You can either go with medium-risk or high-risk depending on your needs. The next option available for retirement is Fixed Income Funds.

Annuities are a likable concept as people more often than not, diver a particular portion of their savings to an annuity just to attain some kind of financial security and peace of mind which can be promised by the guaranteed income that an annuity brings. However, the catch is that annuities are confusing. Choosing one amongst the many options and choosing one that would suit your needs and requirements perfectly is difficult. However, you can compare and contrast with the help of online tools like a fixed annuity calculator, federal retirement annuity calculator etc. The current annuity rates are also presented as ‘Today’s annuity rates’ on various online platforms. It is important that on the basis of your retirement requirements, you take into consideration and compare retirement annuity rates. Annuity rates table and annuity rates charts are available online to further simplify your problems when choosing an annuity. Here are the 2017 best annuity rates: For the purpose of retirement, one can choose an immediate “cash installment refund” annuity which would ensure that when an investor dies, any principal that is left to be paid will go out to the heirs mostly. This kind of an annuity from American National offers a monthly income of $924.43 when the percentage paid on investment is 5.55% and the total income that one would receive by the age of 85 would be $277,329.

While planning for retirement, retirees are mostly confused from among the various options that are available. Mutual funds retirement plans have gained major importance these days. Mutual funds are an investment scheme which is managed professionally and brings people together to invest in bonds, stocks etc. Following are the advantages a mutual fund retirement plan has Safety: Mutual funds provide safety to retirees as the mutual funds are for the longer period and while they give you higher returns, they also provide protection from inflation. So the retirees can stay one step ahead of inflation. Tax Benefits: Retirement plans like IRA and 401(k)s are not taxable and exempt the investors from any capital gain taxes or dividend tax. Other sectored schemes of mutual funds released by the local and state governments are also tax-free. No annuity: For mutual funds, you need not buy annuities, as is the case of pension plans from insurance companies. You can buy it if you think it is beneficial for your poor health and old age. It is completely your choice. Flexible: Mutual funds retirement: plans are flexible and they do not have regular premium payment restrictions. There is also no restriction on partial withdrawals from retirement fixed income funds.

A pension annuity calculator gives an estimate of how much retirement income your savings can get you. There are free calculators available online that can help you plan a comfortable retirement. Here are some jargons and technicalities that would come up during calculation: Annuity – is a simple investment that in return for a capital sum, regular annual repayments with interest are paid. The main advantages are annuities lets one reserve a large sum of money and defer paying taxes. Single life annuity – denotes coverage for an individual. Annuities that last for the life of the spouse also is called joint-and-survivor annuity. Fixed annuity – are usually offered by insurance companies and pay a guaranteed rate of interest. Variable annuity – allows the investor to choose from a selection of investments. The payment the investor reaps is determined by the performance of these investments chosen. Repayments – Choosing the wrong payout option might be detrimental to leading a comfortable retirement. Many choose life annuity i.e. a steady monthly payout. The other option is taking the money lump sum; this has its own risks and advantages. Immediate annuity – is also known as income or payout annuities; they are very similar to a life insurance policy.

Planning retirement is tough, both financially and mentally. The dream of living in retirement communities is not easy to pursue. While there are many retirement communities in Raleigh NC, the investment for the same is also big. If not big, you need to save and invest in a way that all your dreams and desires can be fulfilled after retirement. People generally don’t know how to prioritize their savings for retirement. It can be done in very simple ways: List your goals and desires First of all, think of everything you plan to do after retirement like where do you want to live, with whom do you want to live, the kind of people you want as neighbors, what are the activities you would prefer around etc. Retirement communities in Raleigh NC have many retirement communities for active adults for those who do not want to spend their leisure time just by sitting idle after retirement. Make an estimate of income and expenses The next step is to make an estimate of the fixed income sources after retirement and daily expenditure, including taxes and money required to live in the communities if you want to. Calculate the gap and if there is a negative gap, fill it by investing through retirement investment companies.

A reverse mortgage is a type of financial agreement between two people wherein one of them is a homeowner who gives up a certain mutually agreed percentage of an amount of equity on the house in exchange for regular payments from the other person. This allows the homeowner to earn some cash against their home’s equity, while still maintaining a fair amount of ownership of their home. This article intends to give you an insight into reverse mortgages along with the pros and cons of the same for seniors. The benefit of having a reverse mortgage is that in a conventional mortgage agreement, the borrower pays and the lender accepts payments. In reverse mortgages, as the name suggests, the lender pays the borrower in a variety of ways which may be a lump sum, or regular monthly payments, or even a line of credit. The reverse mortgage is usually repaid in either of the cases where the borrower dies, permanently moves, or the property is sold. Having said that, it is important to know that you must be over the age of 60 in order to qualify for a reverse mortgage. Hence, you can see that the reverse mortgage is for seniors exclusively.

Retirement is one of the aspects and one of the time periods in our lives that we save up our entire life for so that we can lead a comfortable life without much hassle. Given that the conventional methods of storing money simply don’t suffice anymore there are also quite a few plans offered to us by various companies to save for the retirement. One of the plans offered amongst all of them is the 401(k) which is provided by your employer and a part of your income goes towards savings for your retirement. However, it has been seen that the employees don’t pay proper attention to the amount of money that goes towards their retirement savings and this causes many problems. Given that you are signed up for a 401(k) plan, one should try their best to gain all the knowledge they can of their savings, the 401(k) plan fees and all the aspects involved in the plan. There is a 401(k) fee disclosure rule made by the Labor’s Department that went into effect in July 2012, which says that the plan administrators are supposed to mail you a quarterly statement which would give you an idea of your investments rate of return, related fees, expenses and any amount which would have been deducted from your corresponding account to cover for administrative expenses.

Planning, being the initial stage for anything and everything, it is very important. Without making plans, nothing can work out, not even your life after retirement. If you think you can spend the retirement time by relaxing, then you need to work for it today. Retirement income plan is a plan that has a timeline for each year stating what your retirement income sources are. Here are 5 steps to calculate what your retirement income. Make a chart Make a chart with the columns for your age, the calendar year, sources of income, expenses, and taxes. You can also add a column of your spouse’s age (if you are married) next to the calendar year. Denote each row to one calendar year and keep adding everything related to that specific year in the row as per the columns. You can make an excel sheet or do it on paper. Make a list of retirement income sources The second step is to list the retirement income sources that are fixed. Because you need to know how much will be each year’s cash inflow and from where. Calculate your average income. Calculate expenses and taxes Next step is to calculate the expenses. Include everything in them from daily expenses like electricity bill, food expenses to medicinal expenses.

Retirement is an important phase of an individual’s life. It is important to have a set direction and be able to have a guarantee and some savings set aside for the future. Given the reduction of our capabilities, it is important that we have enough financial assistance for our older age in order to be able to handle any unpredictable situation that might come our way. For this purpose, there are various retirement plans available one of which is the 401(k). Many online tools like 401(k) planners are available to help one make an informed decision. This retirement plan gets its funds from payroll deductions before the income is taxed. These funds can be used in numerous ways some of which would be by investing them in various stocks, bonds, mutual funds, various other assets and none of the capital gains, interest or dividends would have to pass through taxation until they are actually withdrawn. There are quite a few benefits of taking up a 401(k) retirement plan and investing in it. Some of them would be the tax advantage that it has to offer. A part of the income payroll is directed into the 401(k) plan before taxation, the tax that you will have to pay on your income payroll is only after the withdrawal of the same.