Planning for your own death is never easy. And with all the life insurance options available, choosing the right plan for you and your loved ones can be tricky. Insurance companies offer options to invest in inheritance for their children; savings plan for their funeral costs and other expenses, such as a mortgage or a spouse’s living expenditures. Seniors in California and across the country have to guard against fraud and risky investment propositions, financial elder abuse lawyers in California say.
Many insurance companies, such as Transamerica Life Insurance Company, offer annuities as a form of life insurance. With an annuity plan, a policyholder invests a sum of money in the company at a specified interest rate, and the company pays that money out over a set period of years. These plans vary based on the person’s age, available funds, and the people and responsibilities they will leave behind. For most people, an annuity can make the most of their investments and contribute to financial wealth.
A deferred annuity has two phases. In the first, the savings phases, the person invests money into Transamerica Life Insurance Company, or a similar establishment. In the second, the income phase, the person receives payments based on the annuity plan he or she has purchased. This annuity can be fixed or variable, and can be invested in a variety of ways.
Choosing a deferred annuity means that the policy holder has the luxury of deferring tax payments until he or she starts taking the money out of the plan. Any payment made with the accumulated interest will have taxes taken out of the earned interest when the policy is drawn on. This option is attractive for senior citizens who have already paid taxes on their income and retirement funds, and want to set aside money for a life insurance plan.
Purchasing an annuity that pays income for your lifespan is assuming that you will live longer than the average person who purchases an annuity. Insurance companies take the opposite gamble, that you will only receive payments for a short lifespan. As you grow older, so does your risk of dying—and so do the mortality credits if you keep collecting. These annuity plans are attractive to older people, in their mid 60s and 70s, who can benefit from the mortality credits. However, gambling on your own life expectancy is risky, and older Californians would do well to explore all their options for life insurance.
Transamerica Life Insurance Company, an international life insurance, pensions, and asset management business, was founded in 1906. Their financial consultants offer consumers in California and across the world a wide variety of life insurance options, operating on a business model that sells long-term products, and investing in the paid premiums. If you or your loved ones have purchased deferred annuity products with Transamerica Life Insurance Company, contact a financial elder abuse lawyer at the Evans Law Firm to discuss whether this was a suitable or appropriate sale to you or your loved one, call us at 415-441-8669.
