Can you tolerate market risks with the money in your account?  If you answered yes, consider a variable annuity.  If you answered no, consider a fixed annuity.

Consult with a trusted broker or a life insurance agent to find out what annuity contracts are available.  Narrow your search down to annuities that are underwritten by financially strong insurance companies.

If you are considering variable annuities, search for companies that offer mutual funds with investment objectives compatible with your risk tolerance.
Review all of the features, limitations, and flexibility of the annuities carefully.  Consider any riders you may want to include, such as living benefits or spousal contribution options.
Be sure to consider the costs associated with the life insurance part of the annuities: the mortality and expense, also known as the “m & e” charges.

Do not forget to include management fees of mutual funds into your costs, if you are looking at variable annuities.  Review the income and estate consequences of annuity contracts with your tax advisor or go online to an IRS website.

Choose the type of annuity that is best for you and your retirement planning goals.

Know which type of IRA you have before you withdraw the money out to use for a down payment.  Do you have a Roth IRA or a Traditional IRA?
Roth IRA’S do not charge taxes for first time home buyers that have had the IRA for 5 years or more.  You will also not have to worry about paying a penalty on your withdrawal.  Traditional IRA’S require you to pay taxes even after 5 years, but you still will not pay a penalty.

For either a Traditional IRA or a Roth IRA there is a limit of $10,000 that you can take out to use as a down payment on a home.  If you need more than $10,000 you will have to pay a penalty, along with taxes.

If you take money out of your Traditional IRA or your Roth IRA before you have had it for 5 years, you will pay a 10% penalty if you are younger than 59 and if you are not a first time home buyer.

When deciding to use your IRA to make a down payment on a home, write a check out from your IRA checks for the amount of the down payment.  You can use cash, but you should use a check instead.  This will give you a record of your down payment.

Most of the time your spouse will be your beneficiary.  If you have inherited a Roth IRA from your spouse here are some of your options.  You can choose to leave the money in the account and let the money continue to grow.  You can take a lump sum payment on the account.  You have the choice of taking annuitized distributions based on your life expectancy.  As a spousal beneficiary, you also have the option of rolling the money over into your own Roth IRA account.

If you have inherited a Roth IRA, and it is not from your spouse, here are your options.  You can leave the money in the account, you can take a lump sum distribution or you can take an annuitized distribution that is based on your life expectancy.  A non spousal beneficiary does not have the option of rolling over the inherited Roth IRA into an account of their own.

Most people do not choose the cash out option when they inherit a Roth IRA, due to the fact that you will owe taxes on the money all at one time.

When you open a Roth IRA, you should always choose who you want as your beneficiary.  Most married people choose their spouse as their beneficiary.  Your beneficiary can be your children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews.  If you want, your beneficiary does not even have to be related to you.  It is your money, so you have the right to leave it to anybody you choose.

With a Roth IRA your contributions are not tax deductible but your earnings and withdrawals are not taxed.  When you retire, if you think you will be in a higher tax bracket, you will be better off rolling over to a Roth IRA.  The tax rates will most likely be higher when you retire, so it is better to pay your taxes now rather than later.

By choosing to roll over to a Roth IRA, you have more investments options: real estate, private equity, partnerships, oil and gas fields, just to give you a few ideas.

When you roll over to a Roth IRA, you have the option of self directing your account.  Self directing is a great idea, because it gives you total control of your investments.  You will always know what is going on with your account.

If you roll over to a Roth IRA, you can be guaranteed higher returns.  Rolling over to a Roth IRA is free.  You will not be taxed and there are no conversion fees to pay.

With a Roth IRA you will get higher returns, flexibility and many other benefits.  We all want the most money we can by the time we are ready to retire.  A Roth IRA guarantees you higher returns, so this should be the type of investment you make towards your retirement fund.

There is a contribution limit on the money you can save, currently it is $5,000 or $6,000 if you are over the age of 50.

Passing the money in your Roth IRA account is easy and it does not cost you a thing.  All you have to do is name someone to inherit whatever money is in the account at the time of your death.  If you have more than one beneficiary, the money will be split equally, unless otherwise specified.  You do not have to mention the Roth IRA in your will or living trust, your beneficiary form will take care of everything.

Most people choose their beneficiary to be their spouse, but your beneficiary can be anyone you choose to leave your money to.

Upon your death, all the beneficiary will need is a certified copy of the death certificate to claim the money.  They will receive the funds quickly and without probate.

IRA’S encourage people to prepare for retirement.  IRA’S have no income limits, which makes them available to anybody.  This gives everyone the opportunity to save for the future.

It is hard to think about saving money if you are living paycheck to paycheck and just barely getting by.  The best time for a lot of us to put money aside is when we get our income tax refunds.  This is a great time to open a Roth IRA account.  Annual contributions to a Roth IRA are currently $5,000 or $6,000 if you are over the age of 50.  Any bonus money you get from work, would be a good addition to your Roth IRA.

Income used for contributions has already been taxed, so no tax is imposed on qualified distributions from Roth IRA’S.  Roth IRA’S remove the income tax bias that prevents many people from setting aside enough money for the future.

Having a good savings plan is important for everyone.  Opening a Roth IRA account is a great way to begin saving for retirement.  None of us want to retire without enough money to live a good life.  It is important to begin savings as soon as you can.

Retirement is supposed to be fun and relaxing so make sure you have enough money to live your “work free” days in high style! Turn your Roth IRA into your savings plan.

You can own both a Traditional IRA and a Roth IRA.  You can contribute to both in the same tax year.  You must remember you can not contribute more than the maximum contribution limit in all IRA accounts in any given tax year.

You can also open multiple Roth IRA accounts, and they can be held with different companies.  Again, you can not contribute more than the limits to all your accounts in any given year.  You can have one IRA account with multiple investments within the account.

A 401K plan is an employer sponsored retirement plan.  When you leave your job, you will need to decide whether to leave your assets or roll over your assets into an IRA.

There are several other types of retirement accounts out there, including SEP-IRA’S, Simple IRA’S, solo 401K plans, annuities and more.  You can have multiple accounts for these as well.  With these types of accounts there may be eligibility requirements, and contribution and income requirements, so you should do some research before opening any new account.

There are advantages to owning more than one type of Roth IRA account.  You will have more money when it is time for you to retire.  Having a secure future is something we can all benefit from.  There is no wrong time to start saving money, a Roth IRA account is a great way to start.

A Roth IRA lets you leave money to your heirs, without leaving them an income tax bill.  When you take money out of a Roth IRA, your heirs will not have to worry about paying income tax on those withdrawals.

You are able to leave more money to your heirs.  A Roth IRA lets your money keep growing until your death.  You do not have to take distributions after you turn 70 ½, your money just continues to grow.

A Roth IRA allows you to continue to add money until the day you die.  With a regular IRA, you can not make contributions after the age of 70 ½.  All of the contributions made after age 70 ½ are tax free, not only for as long as you live, but also until your heirs take the money out.

A Roth IRA IS part of your estate.  If your estate is big enough, you family could lose as much as 45% of the money in the Roth IRA to federal death taxes.  They will not have to worry about paying taxes as well as estate taxes.  All states have their own rules and may impose death taxes on a Roth IRA.

Congress makes the rules on who can put money into a Roth IRA and when you can take money out.  The rules change often, so make sure you talk with your tax advisor about any estate planning done with your Roth IRA.

A Roth IRA will be larger than your regular IRA even if they contain the same dollar amount.  The reason for this is, the Roth IRA contains after tax dollars.  With a regular IRA, the government will eventually get some of your money in the form of income taxes.  With a Roth IRA, you get to keep everything.  The bigger your Roth IRA, the bigger the tax benefits.

You can keep your money in a Roth IRA longer.  There is no requirement for minimum distributions to begin at age 70 ½.  By keeping your money in a Roth IRA for a longer period of time, means you are extending the period of tax free compounding.

An added benefit of rolling over to a Roth IRA, is if you made non-deductible contributions to your regular IRA.  When you roll over your regular IRA to a Roth IRA, the portion you roll over is tax free.  You are moving the money from a place where your money will be taxed to a place where your earnings will be completely tax free.

Before you roll over to a Roth IRA, take some time to think about how and when you will use your Roth IRA money.  You want to make sure you leave your money in the Roth IRA long enough to avoid paying taxes or penalties when you are ready to take your distributions.