Death Benefits and Annuities

Annuities are contracts with written contractual provisions which include benefits paid to a named beneficiary. In the event of the annuitant (a person) dies, the proceeds from an annuity are passed to the beneficiary. The beneficiary can be a person or persons, a trust or an organization. If the annuity names a beneficiary, the funds are paid without the need of probate.

Several options are available to the beneficiary for receiving the funds. These settlement options can be a lump sum or a payment over a desired time period. If the annuity benefits include ant tax deferral (accumulated interest) the tax liability belongs to the beneficiary. As an example, if the annuity had an original $25,000 deposit that had grown to a value of $50,000 the taxable liability would be $25,000. The actual tax liability would be based on the tax bracket of the beneficiary.

Many assets inherited at the death of an estate qualify for “step up” in basis which means that the value of the asset at the death of the person could be sold based on the value at that time. If the asset was sold at or less than the value at the time of death, there would be no tax liability incurred. Annuities do not qualify for step up in basis because they had enjoyed a tax deferral period prior to the death of the annuitant. If the funds are received by the annuitant over a period of time, the tax liability is also “spread out” over the selected time period.

The IRS allows for the beneficiary to select a time period to make arrangements when to receive the funds. The beneficiary is allowed up to five years to defer receiving the funds and assuming the tax liability. This time period allows for the beneficiary to obtain the proper tax and investment advice as to how to proceed based on their personal situation.

If the annuitant prior to death had selected an income option for receiving money from the annuity, the payments could continue to the named beneficiary. A death claim would need to be filed so tax liability and payment selections could be made.

Why Annuities are a Wise Choice for Your Future

Putting off saving for the future for a later time is not a wise decision. You might argue that the money that you are earning today is meant to provide for your present needs and wants. You can always save more money when you receive a big cash flow sometime down the road, right? Wrong. This is the mistake that most people make. However large the amount of money you receive, it will always be easy for you to find things to spend it on.

Only a scant percentage of the population grow old to live a comfortable life. Most people grow old lacking the resources they need to live a decent life. You have to make a paradigm shift in the way you look at savings if you do not want to spend your old age in destitute. You have to sow the seeds today in order to reap the benefits later on in life when you need it more. Try to have annuities explained to you and you will find that it might be a good instrument to use in order to ensure that you do enjoy what you have worked hard for not only today but for the rest of your life.

There are various types of annuities that you can choose from. Your local financial institutions will be able to offer you a range of options. These options are largely determined by the amount of regular contributions that you can make today, the kind of yield you want to enjoy, and the mode of distribution you wish to have during your retirement years. If you have a large amount of money that you can already allocate for your growing your future retirement fund, you can choose to put in a lump sum payment in a single premium annuity.

Depending on your risk profile, you can choose to go for a variable annuity or a fixed annuity. A fixed annuity would assure you of a rate of accumulation for your funds while a variable annuity will allow your insurance company to shift your funds from time to time to take advantage of investment options that would give your money more yield.

Make sure you get all annuities explained because whatever kind of annuity you choose should match the financial situation you are in and the kind of retirement income you wish to enjoy when you retire.