"Ron Peterson" <ron[at]shell.core.com> wrote in message
news:b2f196ff.0402240958.36ac8a4b[at]posting.google.com...
- quote -

Those rates are a tad low, but that's what we get from free quote sites.
Agent only sites have more options, with better payouts, often companies
with better financials.

- quote -

Incorrect. Current offerings include payment enhancements for
post-retirement disability, critical/terminal illness, and qualification for
long term care (including cognitive impairment). If one's health changes for
the worse, which happens often at later ages, a modern annuity is actually a
great idea, because of the additional benefits of modern contracts.

Brent D. Gardner, ChFC
Chartered Financial Consultant
http://members.cox.net/brentdgardner1378/

"Be ever questioning. Ignorance is not bliss. It is oblivion. You don't go
to heaven if you die dumb. Become better informed. Learn from other's
mistakes. You could not live long enough to make them all yourself." - Hyman
George Rickover (1900-86), Admiral, US Navy, advocated development of
nuclear subs & ships

The Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant
(ChFC), designations owned and exclusively offered by The American College,
signify the highest standards of academic study and professional excellence
in the financial services industry.

"_JP" <YamYam[at]nospamsplease.megapathdsl.net> wrote in message news:<103ipifopfsdk69[at]corp.supernews.com> ...

- quote -

Wait until interest rates go up before buying an annuity. An annuity
for a 60 year old woman currently will only return $548 / $100,000,
but a 80 year old woman would get $908 / $100,000. See
http://www.immediateannuity.com/index.htm?google_aw for calculating
other options for annuities.

If a person becomes unhealthy, a simple annuity isn't a good idea.

--
Ron

In article <103ipifopfsdk69[at]corp.supernews.com> , _JP
<YamYam[at]nospamsplease.megapathdsl.net> wrote:

- quote -

I personally don't care for annuities since you give up control,
you normally cannot easily undo them, and you put all your eggs
into one company. These insurance companies have been known to
go broke, which is something that a 60 year old likely does not
need to deal with.

My off the cuff plan would be to put some small part in a good
money market fund (10%), 50% into a 10 year bond ladder where
1/10 comes due each year, and the remainder in a few highly
rated low expense balanced funds. At 60, a person needs a base
of stability, but is still young enough to need exposure to
growth.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ==================

On Mon, 23 Feb 2004 04:04:39 CST, "_JP"
<YamYam[at]nospamsplease.megapathdsl.net> wrote:

snip

- quote -

You are correct about limited information. Here are a few thoughts
which could change with more information:

1. There will be taxes and expenses associated with the $500,000 -
find out the net.

2. Whatever that amount it is, it is not enough to support a 60-year
old for her life expectancy. So she does not have "extra" to support
a grown son. While he can live with her without major cost (and
provide security, companionship, etc.), I would go slow on her
continuing to pay for his other expenses and I would want him to share
household costs (food, utilities). At any rate, my experience with
parents who continue to give their adult children "help" is that in
the end it can strap the parent and give us yet another adult child
who doesn't understand money.

3. An annuity - which can be helpful with income and budgeting - is
irrevocable. I would let the dust settle for a few years to see what
happens before deciding that the lump-sum is not needed.

Bottom line: I think that she needs to make some *personal* decisions.
The financials will flow from that.

-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

I know the right answer for the question I am about to ask is "Find a good
financial planner and ask for his/her advice." Well, I thought it still
wouldn't hurt for me to bring this up here, so that I can learn something.
By the way, the numbers are somewhat simplified, but very close to the
actual.

She's my friend's mother. She's 60 years old. Her husband has passed away
a few years ago. Before his sudden death (he died from heart attack) he had
a very profitable business; a wholesale shop with a couple of employees, in
a small building (no other tenants but himself) which he also owned.

After his father has passed away, my friend didn't have any other choice but
taking the business over. His father had a small life insurance on him,
$50,000 VUL with some extra CV grown over the years. That sure wasn't
enough for him and his mother to live off for many years obviously. He was
in graduate school depending on his father paying for the tuitions and
expenses.

Anyway, the business got worse and worse past few years, mainly because of
the slow economy. Actually even when his father was alive, the business has
been gradually slowing down over the years because of the increased
competitions.

Right now, my friend doesn't even make any profit after paying for all the
expenses. However, the major portion of the expense is rent, which is paid
to his mother. So, his family has been making a few thousand dollars. The
only reason my friend decided to keep the business past few years is to wait
for the property value of the building comes back up, which had gone down
quite a bit years ago.

Now, the real-estate value in that area is climbing up that they are in
position to sell it to a buyer with a fair offer.

Boy, I hope I didn't get carried away too much with the background...


They are expecting to get at least $500k for the property. Her mother's
house, where my friend would live in while finishing up his masters degree,
is paid up. So, there's no big expense on the house. He's going to get a
part time job to help paying for the tuition, but I am pretty sure that
wouldn't be enough. In other words, the biggest expense for the next few
years would be his tuition.

What would be the best option for his mom with her $500k cash at this point?
If she doesn't have any expenses, maybe she can put the most of that money
in annuity, and annuitize it right away. She's quite healthy, so she has a
good chance of getting more than what she put in.

However, as I said, there would be some expenses for next few years, mainly
for her son's tuition. Also, who knows? After he finishes up his masters
degree, he might need his mom's help getting a head start in the career he
plans to have. In other words, I think annuitizing most of her assets may
not be a good idea because she would have to give up the liquidity in her
assets.

I know this is not enough information. However, in a nutshell, what kind of
options does she have? Something like buying annuity with about half of her
money and putting the other half in the money market?

Thanks.