The following are among the most common retirement savings tools, but others are also available.
Employer-sponsored retirement plans that allow employee deferrals (like 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE, and 457(b) plans) are powerful savings tools. Your contributions come out of your salary as pretax contributions (reducing your current taxable income) and any investment earnings are tax deferred until withdrawn. These plans often include employer-matching contributions and should be your first choice when it comes to saving for retirement. 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans can also allow after-tax Roth contributions. While Roth contributions don’t offer an immediate tax benefit, qualified distributions from your Roth account are federal income tax free.
IRAs, like employer-sponsored retirement plans, feature tax deferral of earnings. If you are eligible, traditional IRAs may enable you to lower your current taxable income through deductible contributions. Withdrawals, however, are taxable as ordinary income (unless you’ve made nondeductible contributions, in which case a portion of the withdrawals will not be taxable).
Roth IRAs don’t permit tax-deductible contributions but allow you to make completely tax-free withdrawals under certain conditions. With both types, you can typically choose from a wide range of investments to fund your IRA.
Annuities are contracts issued by insurance companies. Annuities are generally funded with after-tax dollars, but their earnings are tax deferred (you pay tax on the portion of distributions that represents earnings). There is generally no annual limit on contributions to an annuity. A typical annuity provides income payments beginning at some future time, usually retirement. The payments may last for your life, for the joint life of you and a beneficiary, or for a specified number of years (guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company). Annuities may be subject to certain charges and expenses, including mortality charges, surrender charges, administrative fees, and other charges.
Note: In addition to any income taxes owed, a 10 percent premature distribution penalty tax may apply to taxable distributions made from employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRAs, and annuities prior to age 59½ (prior to age 55 for employer-sponsored retirement plans in some circumstances).
IRS Circular 230 disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding tax-related penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any matter addressed herein.
Prepared by Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2018
