AA Benefits Group,Inc.

  Retirement & Estate Planning

RETIREMENT & ESTATE PLANNING SERVICES

Retirement planning and estate planning isn't just for the rich.  It's for all of us. Of course your personal situation, comfort level and where you are at in life, will dictate your degree of involvement at this time.

Whether it involves starting out with just questions or establishing a simple IRA (individual retirement account) funded with a CD or a money market account ... or it involves a 401K rollover with a diversified portfolio; contact us.

Here's How We Work With You:

• Contact us.  Ok, that's obvious, but it's something you won't regret.  There's certainly no obligation on your part.  Depending on your questions, level of interest and needs; answering questions or just getting things started could only take as little as a minute or two of you're time.
• We can start this on the phone, meet in person, or, online through an easy to use webconference (no experience necessary on your part).
• I'll take your input and information and go to work.
• Within a short period of time, I'll get back to you with a recommended course of action.  The most important thing is; your best interests.

When you retire, you'll still need to support yourself. How will you manage when you're not receiving a paycheck? Social Security will likely cover some of your costs. You may have a pension from your employer. But those benefits alone will probably not be enough to let you live the way you'd like to in your retirement years.

To help ensure a financially secure retirement, you'll need a plan for putting some of the money you're earning now into savings and investment accounts for the future. 

Even if you're a long way from reaching retirement, and your primary goals are buying a home or paying for your children's education, you'll want to begin retirement planning as soon as you can. Taking small steps now, while time can work on your behalf, will save you a lot of anxiety later, when you find yourself closer to retirement.

Retirement Plans & Funding

• Funding Your Retirement
• Planning Ahead
• Questions to Ask
• Types of Retirement Plans
• Contribution Limits
• Types of Funding Vehicles
• Taking the next Steps

(learn more, go to"Retirement Plans & Funding" page - click here)

As you'll read below, you'll find that annuities offer a number of significant advantages that many investment and funding vehicles can't offer. But conversely, an annuity is not always the right funding vehicle for every person in every situatiuon.  Just like you should with any investment or financial decision, great care and research should be taken when considering annuities as a serious option.

Who Are Annuities Right For?

Several of the most significant advantages that a "fixed or indexed" annuity (see annuity page for descriptions) can offer are tax deferred growth, safety of principal, guaranteed minimum rate of return, and, gains that are locked in and can never be lost.

Indexed annuities have the added advantage of capitalizing on market growth without the risk to principal and protection of previous gains.

Ideally, some of the best candidates for an annuity are individuals that are conservative to moderate investors and are looking stability in a funding vehicle for 5 years or more.  This is especially true for CD holders and for IRA and 401K rollovers.

An annuity can also be a valuable component of estate planning. So, anyone considering, or is in the process of developing, an estate plan, should also look into annuities as a component of their plan.

There are other situations as well that might be well suited for consideration of annuities as a viable option.  Contact Dave Matthews (click here) if you have questions or need additional information.

What Are The Disadvantages of Annuities?

The single biggest disadvantage of an annuity is the contract term.

To have complete access to principal and gains of funds inside of an annuity, the "contract term" must have run it's course. In other words, if you wish to pull all your money out prior to the end of the contract, you will incur a "surrender charge" or penalty.

Note: Many annuities offer a feature where limited funds can be withdrawn annually without any penalty.

Contract lengths can be as little as a few years to as much as 15 to 20 years.  Typically, most annuities have contract lengths of 5 to 10 years. And, as a rule of thumb, the longer the contract length; the more advantageous the guaranteed minimum interest rate will likely be. Other annuity features may also be enhanced, at times this could include an interest bonus.

So, other than "immediate annuities", the contract term should always be given considerable weight when considering investing in an annuity.

If you happen to keep some or all of your funds in CD's, you might want to consider a fixed annuity or even an equity indexed annuity as an option. See "All About Annuities" page for detailed descriptions.

Annuities offer a number of significant features not available in CD's. PLUS, generally. annuities offer higher rates of return, all with safety of principal and interest. It's definitely worth camparing, at the very least.  (cliick here, then scroll down)