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OT: How To Maximize Fixed Income as a Retiree

Yeah me and my sister do well for ourselves so were not banking on inheriting anything from my mother so my main thing is maximizing her retirement cashflow. She plans on retiring after her 67th bday which will October 2028 so we have some time to plan
In my view, that’s a huge factor and congrats to you and you siblings. In a scenario where there is no “”backstop” that is a totally different problem/solution.
 
My mother is approaching retirement and has been asking me how to create a cashflow stream from her savings. She’ll have about $800K along with her full SS benefits.

While I can consult her on a variety of real estate related investments, I’d like to learn more about other fixed income avenues for impending retirees like her and what are the typical returns.

Any help and contributions to the thread are appreciated.
If she is trying to max cash flow, she should wait until 70 to collect SS. The no fee products mean you are paying other ways.
 
Sounds like she is in great financial shape. She can park a big chunk in Synchrony bank which currently pays 4.75% or some other high yield account until she knows what she wants to invest in. The interest is taxable, and the interest rate will be dropping once the fed rate is dropped.
 
Yeah me and my sister do well for ourselves so were not banking on inheriting anything from my mother so my main thing is maximizing her retirement cashflow. She plans on retiring after her 67th bday which will October 2028 so we have some time to plan
If not considered already, and sorry of off topic, consider if she has a long term care insurance policy. Long term care costs can derail the best laid retirement savings plans.
 
I don’t use an advisor but Vanguard’s Personal Advisor program charges 30 basis points annually for that asset amount. I think Schwab and Fidelity would be comparable. That’s on top of any fees for funds and/or annuities that may be purchased, but lower than Fisher or other groups of that ilk. Anyone (an advisor or otherwise) would want to know SS, equity in home, other income streams, goals (leave KK or siblings an inheritance), expenses, discretionary wishes beyond necessary expenses, etc.). Also, i am guessing KK could be a “backstop” in a worst case scenario so that could increase flexibility.

If she puts the whole thing in a Schwab rollover account I think it's less. But with $4600/mo. coming from other sources do you want the whole thing in an annuity?
 
If she is trying to max cash flow, she should wait until 70 to collect SS. The no fee products mean you are paying other ways.
Agree... no such thing as free. I was asked by my brother in law to recently review Schwab's zero fee automated investment. It seems good until you realize that they maintain 6%of the investment in a cash account that pays 0.5% less than treasuries. So that is where the fees come from.
 
Agree... no such thing as free. I was asked by my brother in law to recently review Schwab's zero fee automated investment. It seems good until you realize that they maintain 6%of the investment in a cash account that pays 0.5% less than treasuries. So that is where the fees come from.
Definitely not free (regarding SS). Waiting to 70 means she will get $0 from SS for the next 3 years. People need to factor in what they are missing out on by waiting.
 
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If she is trying to max cash flow, she should wait until 70 to collect SS. The no fee products mean you are paying other ways.
Hard to maximize cash flow when you zero out one of her income streams.
 
Speaking of taxes. If $800K sits in a traditional 401K for the 67 year old and they want to stuff that money into for example a fidelity annuity product, what are the tax implications on that $800K?
First you would transfer that money into an IRA. Then the money that you used to fund the annuity you would pay on each distribution on a monthly basis taxes are taken out of each distribution.
 
Yeah me and my sister do well for ourselves so were not banking on inheriting anything from my mother so my main thing is maximizing her retirement cashflow. She plans on retiring after her 67th bday which will October 2028 so we have some time to plan
2028? Let that 800k roll on us winning 2027 Rose Bowl. Al says it’s a lock.
 
Any small amount of research clearly shows.....an immediate fixed annuity is the easy choice, but definitely not the best one in terms of managing wealth.
Yes, but in my opinion, the best choice is probably not an annuity, at least not as the sole solution.
 
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If you want something simple and not have to think about it, annuity is the answer. But there are better ways.
 
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So I looked into it. If a 67 year old woman puts $800K into an annuity the pay out is like $6200/month which is pretty damn good. And if hypothetically that person dies 3 years later, the heirs would get $800K minus 3 years worth of payments which comes to around $575K. Fidelity has their annuity calculator on their site which I linked above.
Are you saying if the 67 yr old person dies at 77, the heirs get nothing? Am I understanding you correctly. If so, do not buy this.
 
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Are you saying if the 67 yr old person dies at 77, the heirs get nothing? Am I understanding you correctly. If so, do not buy this.
Seems like a backwards mortgage. They make you use up the principle first!
 
Just did an annuity estimate with them. Female starting at age 67 and $800K input pays 8.2% annually for life. Sounds attactive but i gotta see if theres a catch. Around $5600/month.

Without bothering to look it up, the rate might be variable or require waiting a long time before it generates income.
 
Paying into an annuity for someone in their early 60’s won’t get you a return much better than building a bond ladder. It’s fairly easy to do on fidelity or Charles Schwab sites. Depending on her age you can do a 2-5-10 yr structure and hold to maturity and get a 5~5.5 percent return. You just need to figure out her cash flow needs over that timeframe and figure out how much to invest at each tranche.

Wouldn’t a good bond fund do this for you? Seems like remembering to keep buying bonds at set times could be onerous.
 
Are you saying if the 67 yr old person dies at 77, the heirs get nothing? Am I understanding you correctly. If so, do not buy this.

If it were a single life annuity with no term certain that could happen. But you'd be nuts to sign up for that with the only benefit a VERY slight higher monthly payment
 
If it were a single life annuity with no term certain that could happen. But you'd be nuts to sign up for that with the only benefit a VERY slight higher monthly payment
Good points. I am NOT an annuity advocate. Insurance products are extremely complex—emphasize extremely complex. In my opioion, there are generally hidden fees and “gotta ya” features and characteristics with insurance products. You pay for features like guaranteed terms, joint life, etc which may or may not be suitable for the investor/person. Read the contract, prospectus, and demand an “Illustration.” I have never bought any annuity or insurance product other than term life, in my view, for almost all circumstances, there are valid reason for the oft quoted phrase “buy term and invest the rest.” Again, not advocating any insurance product but some scenarios where a SPIA maymake sense: no heirs or charitable inclinations, sufficient assets to carry through one’s life, good health genes, desire to supplement PART of assets to buy for longevity, desire to buy a cost-adjusted product (inflation adjusted , to have a joint survivorship etc. (again, you pay for these feature so they or may not be suitable for a specific investor, tax considerations, etc.). I’m k) I not providing advise, I am suggesting folks educate themselves on these matters. For me, a balanced portfolio that considers short and long term goals, tax implications , RMD, legacy, cash flow, legacy considerations, etc works.
 
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Good points. I am NOT an annuity advocate. Insurance products are extremely complex—emphasize extremely complex. In my opioion, there are generally hidden fees and “gotta ya” features and characteristics with insurance products. You pay for features like guaranteed terms, joint life, etc which may or may not be suitable for the investor/person. Read the contract, prospectus, and demand an “Illustration.” I have never bought any annuity or insurance product other than term life, in my view, for almost all circumstances, there are valid reason for the oft quoted phrase “buy term and invest the rest.” Again, not advocating any insurance product but some scenarios where a SPIA maymake sense: no heirs or charitable inclinations, sufficient assets to carry through one’s life, good health genes, desire to supplement PART of assets to buy for longevity, desire to buy a cost-adjusted product (inflation adjusted , to have a joint survivorship etc. (again, you pay for .
these feature so they or may not be suitable for a specific investor, tax considerations, etc.). I’m k) I not providing advise, I am suggesting folks educate themselves on these matters. For me, a balanced portfolio that considers short and long term goals, tax implications , RMD, legacy, cash flow, legacy considerations, etc works.

In short, educate yourself. And, let me add, tell someone else the terms you signed up for, and the choices yet to be made.
 
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Can you explain what this means
depending on the the life contingency - meaning the annuity is life only - the remaining balance defaults to the insurer at death . Other contingencies include 10 years certain, 50% and 100% joint and survivorship based on a spouse or other person. Check to see if the annuity has NO contingencies.
 
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