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Annuity Beneficiaries

Four Reasons to Own an Annuity

John Conley

Now that the Powerball winner has come forward to claim her prize of $758 million (before taxes), you can’t turn on the television or radio without hearing the word “annuity.” The winner of the lottery had a very important choice to make: to take an after-tax lump sum or pay the taxes and receive income for life. This got me thinking about the number of people who don’t understand exactly what an annuity is and how it can be beneficial when used in the following...

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How a Restricted Beneficiary Form Can Kinda Act Like a Free Trust

Carl Ostenson

Do you have children or grandchildren that aren’t really good with money? You know the type, the ones who as kids, had their allowance spent before it was even in their pocket and now they have $20,000 in credit card debt and spend money even faster than a drunken sailor. Or maybe you have a child or grandchild who is struggling with drugs or gambling and a big lump sum of money would only make things worse. Or maybe you don’t really like your daughter’s...

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Mistakes to Avoid When Naming Beneficiaries to Annuity Contracts

Jerry Rogers

One great advantage of owning an annuity is the ability to, upon your death, have your money flow to your beneficiaries without having to go through probate. Beneficiary designations take precedent over wills.  If you do not name a beneficiary your money flows to your estate. This may tie it up for an extended period of time and will subject it to court fees.  On the other hand, an insurance company will distribute the balance of an annuity within a matter of a few weeks...

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Before You Let Your Deferred Annuity Be Owned By or Payable to a Trust…Read This

John L. Olsen

If you own, or are considering buying, a deferred annuity and are thinking of having a trust own or be the beneficiary of that annuity, you need to be aware of the tax consequences. In this article, we’ll examine those consequences. But before we start, we need to be clear on two things: First, the author is not an attorney and is not giving you tax or legal advice. You should consult your legal advisor for that. Second, the tax treatment describe here applies only...

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Annuity Contract Education: Owner Driven vs. Annuitant Driven

John L. Olsen

Written By: Lyndol Anderson in Abilene, TX For persons interested in setting up an annuity, knowledge of the difference between an owner driven contract and an annuitant driven contract is very important.  It is sometimes very hard to distinguish but the differences between the two can have an undesired effect upon control of the contract and the distribution of the account value. The core discrepancy between the two styles of annuity contracts comes into play when there is a death of the owner and/or annuitant....

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Should You Name A Trust As Beneficiary Of Your IRA Or 401K?

Carl Ostenson

The short answer is “Maybe, but don’t do it just because you can. Do it if it’s the only answer to a problem and you know exactly what you are doing.” IRAs and 401ks will pass on by way of contract to whomever you name as the beneficiaries. They will bypass the probate process and the lawyers involved automatically. A trust does not have to be involved if there is a beneficiary form. Most of the time, you do not need to name a trust...

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Don’t Disinherit Your Grandkids

Carl Ostenson

When I do beneficiary reviews, or help clients fill out an annuity application, one of the easiest and neatest things to explain to them is how adding two words to their beneficiary form, can help to insure they don’t unintentionally disinherit their grandkids. It takes about a minute to explain, and then most people want to update their old forms right away. Here are all the different types of accounts that have beneficiary forms: Annuities Life Insurance IRAs 401ks, 403bs Some types of bank accounts...

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Who Gets The Money In My Deferred Annuity If I Die?

John L. Olsen

With regard to “who gets the money” in a deferred annuity, the answer is not quite as simple as many believe. The simple answer is “the beneficiary named in the policy” and that’s true much of the time – but not always. Let’s start with some basics in annuity contracts: –Annuitant: Person (must be a human being) whose age and sex determine the amount of income payments. –Owner: Person or entity (in need not be a human being) who owns the rights in the annuity...

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Best 10 Reasons to Own Annuities

John L. Olsen

Written By: Jeffrey Kiesel in Chester Springs, PA As Baby Boomers look ahead to a retirement with life expectancies which could be the longest part of their lives, they need to have an adequate, dependable and long lasting stream of income. This means their nest eggs should provide the funds to allow them to enjoy their retirement years and to not outlive the source of their income. For this reason retirement planning is extremely important. Besides being a complicated and somewhat threatening process, it is...

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