There is a good chance that you are one of the many people who underestimate the strain inflation is likely to place on your finances in the future. It is important to account for inflation in one way or another so that your money doesn’t run out faster than you planned. Steve Burns of the Daily Breeze was asked about inflation and gave his answers in “Keeping up with inflation — stocks vs. bonds.” Burns recently published an article about evaluating Social Security benefits through the use of an immediate annuity calculator. The article said that the cost of an inflation-adjusted annuity would be about 50% more than the cost of purchasing a fixed annuity not adjusted for inflation. A reader wrote in to ask Burns how he came up with this percentage and if he took age into consideration.
He looked at two different companies offering inflation-adjusted annuities. While the 50% figure seems high to those reading it, he believes that many of us underestimate the real effects that inflation will have. A 55-year old man using $100,000 to buy a fixed annuity with lifetime income would get a monthly payment of $420. Compare that to an inflation-adjusted annuity where your payments would start at $268 per month. That equals out to a 57% increase between the two types of annuities. That number goes down to 39% if you wait ten years and purchase the annuity at age 65. While there is a steep increase in the cost of an inflation-adjusted annuity, it is important to to account for inflation in some of your investments, whether it be your annuities or not.
Written by Rachel Summit
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