Annuities Protect Your Standard of Living in Retirement

Do You Have Enough Income?

Do you have enough income to continue into retirement?

Susan, retired from her position as administrator for a dental group, is emphatic about it. ‘The big thing about retirement for me is protecting my standard of living. I need to know that I’ll have the income I need to continue into retirement without scraping and scrimping. I don’t have expensive tastes and I don’t expect to live a life of luxury, but I don’t want to spend the rest of days penny-pinching either.’

Financial Dependability and Security

As an investment of her retirement savings, Susan chose a lifetime annuity with an income payment guarantee. The annuity pays out a fixed amount each month for the longer of Susan’s lifetime or the guarantee period. Either way, she will have enough to protect her standard of living for the rest of her life. ‘I’ve also seen enough to know that life is full of surprises and doesn’t always work out like you think’, she says. ‘If I die before the end of the guarantee period, then at least my non-registered annuity can provide some second generation income to my family until the guarantee period has been completed.’

Lifetime Annuity as First Choice

Susan looked at different options for her retirement finances, including a RRIF (registered retirement income fund) for her registered funds. She compared them with the criteria that were important to her: regular, dependable income that would last until she died. Out of the various possibilities she considered, the lifetime annuity was the only one that met those criteria.

Peace of Mind for the Family

‘I also want my family to know that I’ve taken the right decision about retirement income. It shouldn’t be a worry for me to know how I’ll manage – and it shouldn’t be a worry for my family either. The last thing I’d want is for them to start panicking about me no longer being able to support myself financially. Thankfully, my annuity also takes care of all those aspects as well.’

Susan’s choice of an annuity in her financial planning for retirement means:

• She maintains her standard of living
• She receives regular, dependable income for the rest of her days
• Her family can be reassured that her financial needs are taken care of.

Helping Younger Generations Get Along Too

There’s another thing that Susan thinks is important too. As her children’s families grow and she has more grandchildren, she’s aware that younger people also look to an older person to see what choices and decisions they should be making in life. ‘Whether we want to be or not, we are all role models for the younger generations.

We also owe it to them to make sensible retirement and financial decisions, so that they see the value of doing some planning and preparation when it comes to money and income.