Poll- Delay SS vs. Purchase an Annuity

[haha]

Couple of threads running on annuities made me want to do this poll. Basically, how many people plan to buy or have bought an annuity, vs how many plan to delay or have delayed SS until age 70? Me- I delayed until age 70, and I will not buy an annuity.

Try to force yourself to choose for purposes of this poll. If you find your self pursued by a large creditor, I you have permission to deviate from your choice.

Ha

 

[REWahoo]

Your poll is a no-no for me.

 

[W2R]

I plan to take my SS at age 70 so I voted "yes" on that one.

I didn't vote on the annuity part. I don't plan to buy one now, but I plan to take another look at my financial situation when I am 80-85 and and possibly buy a small annuity at that time. The purpose would be simply to provide a steady, reliable income that doesn't need to be fiddled with while I am becoming more and more physically/mentally incapacitated by old age. The annuity would function as a supplement to my SS. If my SS was a little bigger, then I would not buy an annuity.

 

[Running_Man]

I plan on taking SS at age 70. The math makes it very hard not to do so.

I consider myself to already have taken an annuity by taking a pension option versus a cash payout. I presently do not plan on additional annuities, but I keep myself open to the oppportunity in lieu of other fixed income investments. I am still kicking myself for not purchasing the annuity in 2007 with a 4 percent payout and a 4% fixed annual increase. Would be paying over $5,061 per year by now for the 100K I was going to invest.

 

[pb4uski]

Planning to wait until 70 for SS. Currently 58. Starting SS between 62 and 70 is a "Plan B" if investment results were uncomfortably poor.

No plans to buy an annuity. (I assume you mean a SPIA?) Might someday but probably not.

How does one vote twice?

 

[braumeister]

I can only select one of the four options.

 

[frayne]

No & no here.

 

[jimnjana]

No-no here. My plan as it stands now is to delay taking ss as long as possible, maybe to age 70.

 

[haha]

Planning to wait until 70 for SS. Currently 58. Starting SS between 62 and 70 is a "Plan B" if investment results were uncomfortably poor.

No plans to buy an annuity. (I assume you mean a SPIA?) Might someday but probably not.

How does one vote twice?

Oh, I see. I didn't foresee this glitch.

Could a mod turn on the multiple answers switch? I think this might fix the problem.

 

[pb4uski]

Oh, I see. I didn't foresee this glitch.

How about yes/yes, yes/no, no/yes and no/no? Too late now I suppose unless the mods have some way of wiping the slate clean. They are clever, smart, kind, generous, all-knowing......

 

[ERD50]

How about yes/yes, yes/no, no/yes and no/no? Too late now I suppose unless the mods have some way of wiping the slate clean. They are clever, smart, kind, generous, all-knowing......

That's what it needs, IMO.

If you just allow multiple answers we won't know if the no's to one Q relate to the yes's or no's of the other question.

But until then - a planned yes/no. But I will re-evaluate as time goes by.

-ERD50

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

Planning on 70 for SS. 2500/Month now vs. 3300/month then.
Purchased a small annuity many years ago. Has increased in value and now valued at less than 4% of investments. Decided to go with 15 years guaranteed @ $1500/month.
Would not purchase another annuity.

 

[F4mandolin]

Don't have the money to wait until 70....or likely 66.5. At the current time, planning somewhere in the 62-64 range.

 

[rescueme]

Yes / Yes
Yes / Yes

(2 votes for me/DW )...

 

[seraphim]

No annuity and no delay. My SS be fits will be minimal, though, so it's really not a major influence.

 

[youbet]

No No

Started SS at 62 to protect DW. (She's impacted by GPO)

No annuity. Can't bring myself to turn over resources to any insurance company regulated by Illinois politicians. Fool me once........

 

[bmcgonig]

Yes on SS. Maybe on annuity. I would love to have a guaranteed income starting at 70 that would totally cover my "floor" so along with SS I may get a deferred annuity to start at 70. I'm 57 now and plan to retire at 60.

 

[Independent]

I've already delayed SS past 66, but I'll probably start at 67 1/3 when my wife turns 66.

A private annuity is my "bail out" plan. If I'm getting old and my assets are dropping too low, I may buy an annuity.

 

[ETFs_Rule]

Annuities are crap financial products. So easy to do better with a conservative portfolio of stock / bond based ETF's. There's so many commission hungry annuity salesmen out there saying good things about them that people start believing that they're "an important part of a portfolio". Nonfiduciary "advisers" typically earn between 5 and 10% when selling annuities. With index annuities and SPIA's the insurance company compensates for that commission by reducing what they pay you. All annuities are also a tax nightmare. With SPIA's and other annuities that have an "income phase" you cannot get out of the contract for life. Kiss your principal goodbye if you ever need it.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

no no

 

[misanman]

Hope this isn't sidetracking the conversation too much but I've been thinking of buying a SPIA inside my Roth IRA. Is this a reasonable approach to provide a continuing stream of tax exempt income?

 

[pb4uski]

IF you decide a SPIA makes sense for you (regular income, peace of mind, etc.) then I would think a Roth would be a perfect place to have it. At least, it would avoid the tax nightmare that ETFs_Rule mentioned a few posts ago.

 

[timo2]

Yes for 70 and No for annuity. The survivor benefit for the SS at 70 is really important for DW.

 

[TallTim]

Yes (at least that's the plan) and No for us.

Modeling waiting until 70 to collect SS, as it makes a pretty big difference for me and DW in terms of what we may get (47 now) ... frankly not counting on getting much anyway. SS will be a small portion of our FIRE income, so why not maximize if we can afford it.

No on annuity unless there is a material decline in our port returns. I've looked at the models and the $$$ you need to fork over for any kind of decent annuity is just so large in relation to the payouts (esp if you're >50 YO), that I really struggle to see how even a DIY reasonable portfolio couldn't do better than the underlying investments the insurers use to fund the payment streams.

 

[braumeister]

SS at 70 is logical for me because of some longevity genes I have probably inherited. Late 90s would be quite possible for me, which is far beyond any break-even point.

Too soon to say about buying an annuity, although I could see at least the possibility of a SPIA at some point down the road.