Still trying to figure it out Help

[Pookie]

I have been trying to figure out what to do for months. Was thinking of retiring Jan 1, but not going to happen as all the work I have been doing around my house has certainly added up & I need another car. I don't want any car payment so will be paying cash for a used car. I will be 63 by Jan 1 & plan to work another 6mos to save $ for a new a/c unit.
I have approx $120k in an annuity that terms in 4yrs where I get growth but can also lose if market drops more than 10% which certainly appears it will drop more when it does drop. I have 200k in just an IRA, mostly cash since I can't decide what's best to do. I do have a pension that will provide $400-450/more. My expenses are $3000/more.

Most all the financial advisors I talk to want to put $200k in an annuity, recent one is AtheneBKA x 10yrs. I am concerned about losing $$ when the market drops which is inevitable & sounds like it may be worse than the other drops.

Is there any other safe place besides an annuity where your $ can grow & not lose it all as I have not found anything.

Any suggestions will be appreciated! Ty

[evilanne]

I don't know that there is any totally "safe" place but from your post it sounds like you have a very low tolerance for risk. In many cases, annuities return less than what you could earn in with a mix of stocks & bonds and generally benefit the person selling them more than the person buying it, especially in the current low interest rate environment. In 2004 I inherited an IRA; since then I have taken RMDs every year except one (exempted by legislation during financial crisis) and it is currently valued ~50% more than the original amount. Point is that a little risk may be to your benefit. Have you run any of the retirement calculators?

[Pookie]

Have not done any calculators lately, maybe months ago, don'the remember.

[Hermit]

Annuities are not very popular around here. Do some searching on "annuities" on the forum. Make sure you read and understand every word in the contract if you decide to look closer at them.

[VanWinkle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pookie I have been trying to figure out what to do for months. Was thinking of retiring Jan 1, but not going to happen as all the work I have been doing around my house has certainly added up & I need another car. I don't want any car payment so will be paying cash for a used car. I will be 63 by Jan 1 & plan to work another 6mos to save $ for a new a/c unit. I have approx $120k in an annuity that terms in 4yrs where I get growth but can also lose if market drops more than 10% which certainly appears it will drop more when it does drop. I have 200k in just an IRA, mostly cash since I can't decide what's best to do. I do have a pension that will provide $400-450/more. My expenses are $3000/more. Most all the financial advisors I talk to want to put $200k in an annuity, recent one is AtheneBKA x 10yrs. I am concerned about losing $$ when the market drops which is inevitable & sounds like it may be worse than the other drops. Is there any other safe place besides an annuity where your $ can grow & not lose it all as I have not found anything. Any suggestions will be appreciated! Ty

Putting all of your 200K in an annuity would be a mistake in my opinion. You need some liquidity and having an annuity with no safety stash could be a problem. You don't mention Social Security and how that will affect your income. Expenses are 3000 per month? pension of 400 and SS of ?. Once all income is added, you can see what the investments will provide in a conservative(low risk) allocation.

[USA]

I’d pass on the annuity. You may want to consider Vanguards Mutual funds. Your plan to knock out a car & major home repair wise.

[Cayman]

Pookie, educating yourself further is the next step and you received good advice when you posted about this back in April. I'd read through that thread again, study up and come back with questions you may have.

[DrRoy]

Quote:

Annuities are not very popular around here. Do some searching on "annuities" on the forum. Make sure you read and understand every word in the contract if you decide to look closer at them.

+1. You pay so much in fees. Not a good option in my book. For my non-equity $ I mostly go for intermediate term BBB corporate or municipal bonds.

[Car-Guy]

For me CD's are the safest, (not popular around here either) and make money but probably will not keep up with inflation.

You didn't mention medical or SS. Are those numbers included in your calculations? Strongly suggest running your numbers in several retirement calculators "before" you retire. Doesn't take very long (maybe a few few minutes for each calculator).

[Pookie]

Thx for the responses. My $3000 expenses include medical, dental & long term care insurance. Part of my debate is whether to take social security next spring or not. I am thinking of working part time but not sure if that will be enough. Social Security now is $1725/month. If I wait till 66y/o it will be $2215 approx, don't remember exact amt right now .
I have met with 8 different advisors, only 2 didn't recommend any annuity, 1 wanted to charge me a 1 time fee of $10,000 based on my investment amount. He said with their account I would make that money back in a few months if the market continued the way it's been going. The other was with Money Matters, from the radio, but I didn't like the guy I was talking to.
My concern with being in the stock market, from what I hear, is that the higher it goes, it will drop just as much when it does & I really didn't want to worry about having to work more to make up the income needed d/t the loss while waiting for it to go back up. It took me about 8yrs to gain back what I lost in 2008. I have heard & read about annuities being more for the advisor's pocket than the investor. The people in this forum seem to have more knowledge & confidence than I for sure.
Maybe I am missing something. Some info I read I don't always totally understand about different investments. I don't find it easy to get around in this forum either. Not sure where the calculator is in here, if that'sounds where you meant.
Appreciate your help & comments.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pookie Not sure where the calculator is in here, if that'sounds where you meant. .

You probably mean FIRECalc. A link is at the bottom of this page, but here's another link:
https://firecalc.com

By all means read the instructions before using it:
https://firecalc.com/intro.php

You'll most likely benefit most by breaking things down into small individual questions. That way you're apt to get good specific answers.