Create your own guarantees and take control of your retirement: with a guaranteed lifetime income and a guaranteed income account growth rate!

A Fixed Index Annuity along with other Fixed Annuities now offer more flexibility, more choices and more growth potential in how and when you decide to distribute your income in retirement. Keep in mind that there are lifetime income benefits offered with some Fixed Annuities and Fixed Index Annuity contracts that stand above the rest when these specific goals are needed: Don’t be fooled by the fluff / Call Walt Decherd to know what carriers are offering the best true value TODAY…

1. A Guaranteed Lifetime Income you cannot outlive

2. The ability to control your money and how it is distributed (No Annuitization Required)

3. More and better choices when it comes to getting the best annuity rates: The Fixed Index Annuity products and the income riders available today all vary in benefits. There are income riders that offer 5%, 6%, 7%, 8% and even10% guaranteed income account growth annually. Some grow interest compounding and some are simple interest. Some have payout percentages based on age and others are a flat percentage no matter what is the age of the contract owner. Some have cash value fees ranging from .0040% to 1% annually and some do not have any internal fees. But they all provide a guaranteed lifetime income based on the financial strength of the issuing insurance company. If you are interested in these types of benefits please contact a trusted Safe Money Rep to learn more and get the annuity rates that work best for you. Not all Income riders are the same. Important fact to consider is how the fee is calculated? On the cash value or the income value!

4. Guaranteed spousal income benefits also available Avoid probate and pass on remaining annuity contract value to your heirs.

The diversification of your money is one of the most important concepts to understand within your financial plan. These types of contracts are for the money you cannot afford to lose. This information is provided to help give you a brief understanding of how Guaranteed Lifetime Income Benefits work. This may be a great replacement or compliment to your existing CD, bond, IRA, 401k and even a portion of your Savings.

Annuities are the only way to guarantee a lifetime income stream, but there are many different annuities to choose from. Here is a MAJOR MISCONCEPTION ABOUT ANNUITIES: “When you die all the money left in your annuity goes to the insurance company not your heirs”.

THIS IS NOT TRUE. If you purchase a life only SPIA with no period certain then this will happen. A life only SPIA will allow for the highest income stream but upon death the remainder will go to the insurance carrier. This only applies to a SPIA with a life only payout.

1.SPIA – Single premium immediate annuity

SPIAs offer an immediate income stream for the period that you desire i.e., 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 years, life, life with guaranteed certain of 5, 10, 20 years. When deciding to use a SPIA for income you essentially annuitize your money. In most cases you do not have access to your principal in emergencies, only your income stream. You are also locked in to an interest rate between 1% and 3% depending on when you purchased your SPIA. However with fixed annuities this is not the case.

Understand the facts and only work with people you can trust! If your broker is not offering these types of products and you are interested, please contact Walt Decherd at 281-639-8468.

Walt Decherd does not provide legal, taxation or investment advice. Walt Decherd claims no liability for any content or information provided. Please consult with your tax advisor and financial professional before making any tax or financial decisions.

Fixed annuities, also referred to as tax-deferred fixed annuities, are contracts between you and an insurance company for a guaranteed interest bearing policy that includes optional guaranteed income choices. The insurance company credits interest on fixed annuities, but you don’t pay taxes on the earnings until you make a withdrawal or begin receiving an income from your fixed annuities. Fixed annuities earn competitive returns that are very safe. Because fixed annuities are tax-deferred, you earn additional interest compounding on the money you’d normally be paying in taxes.

There are numerous advantages of fixed annuities, some of the most important are:

1) Tax-deferred interest accumulation: The interest earned on fixed annuities is not subject to current taxation until it is withdrawn from the Contract. This allows for a potentially greater cash buildup than if income taxes were payable on accumulating interest as earned.

2) Competitive current interest rate: Current interest rates on fixed annuities are generally competitive with those from other fixed-interest vehicles, and are typically better than what can be obtained by investing in a comparable Bank CD.

3) Safety/guarantees: The value of your fixed annuities are fully backed by the assets of the issuing insurance company. And all fixed annuities are secondarily covered by your states Insurance Guarantee Fund. In addition, fixed annuities offer a minimum interest rate guarantee.

Please visit one or more of the following areas to further research the best fixed annuities for your needs.

CD-Type Fixed Annuities

Adjustable Rate Fixed Annuities

Equity Indexed Fixed Annuities

“Top 10″ and “Featured” Fixed Annuities

Other things you should look for when comparing fixed annuities:
Avoid fixed annuities that charge front-end contract fees and sales loads, or excessive annual maintenance fees or charges. They reduce the amount of money that actually goes to work for you. Also, the length of the surrender charge period may be an important consideration for you, although fixed annuities should be considered a long-term retirement savings vehicle. Some companies will waive the surrender charges in the event of premature death or annuitization.

What’s the difference between qualified and nonqualified fixed annuities?
Qualified fixed annuities are used to fund a tax-qualified retirement plan such as a traditional IRA. In most cases, premiums paid to qualified fixed annuities are tax-deductible. Nonqualified fixed annuities are used to fund a cash accumulation program which does not qualify for a front-end tax deduction. But whether your fixed annuities are qualified or nonqualified, the premiums always accumulate interest that is free of current income tax until withdrawn.

If you prefer the assistance of a live fixed annuity specialist, you can always call Walt Decherd at 281-639-8468.

Walt Decherd does not provide legal, taxation or investment advice. Walt Decherd claims no liability for any content or information provided. Please consult with your tax advisor and financial professional before making any tax or financial decisions.

Walt Decherd About Economic Downturn By Eriq Powers

With the spectre of a looming “economic downturn” upon us, many business leaders are being forced to tighten their belts and rethink their future expenditures. During times like this, off-site retreats and holiday parties are doubtless going to take a lower priority. The irony is, now – when things are most challenging for both businesses and their clients – it is even more vital that we motivate staff and create a work environment that fosters healthy risk-taking and creative thinking. Now is the time for those in charge to plan for change, and invest in strategies that foster innovation rather than cutting everything but the bare essentials.

This is an exciting time, with great opportunities for the organization that is able to adapt. The most successful companies are those that do not sit back and run on auto-pilot. The best companies find a way to take stock of what is working and what is not working in their organizations, taking time to streamline their processes and create innovation where they can.

Creating an environment of openness and an opportunity to communicate and share new ideas can be done without spending a great deal of money. A few simple things can go a long way towards fostering creativity in the workplace. Here are a few suggestions:

Create a “suggestion box” which is available to all employees. The key next step will be to actually follow up on those suggestions, and to implement those that are even remotely useful. Generate interest in participation by shedding light on the suggestions (both good and bad) at a quarterly staff meeting. When people feel that their suggestions are being heard, they are more likely to make suggestions and feel appreciated.

Reward staff with a quarterly “Appreciation Day” in which the successes of individuals within the organization are recognized, appreciated, and rewarded. Rewards don’t necessarily have to be monetary, but the appreciation should be genuine.

Maintain an “open-door” policy with regard to staff/manager relationships. Encourage the staff to give feedback to managers – both negative and positive – whenever this feedback can have benefit. The next step (and equally important) is to encourage the management to truly listen to staff feedback. Often managers are oblivious to the way their actions are perceived by the people around them. If people are made aware of how their actions affect others, they can often implement small behavior modifications that make dramatic improvements in employee morale and productivity.

Encourage creativity and ideation during strategic planning meetings through the use of experiential tools such as “brainstorming,” “mind-mapping,” music, colorful pens or crayons, rolls of butcher paper, etc… Experience-based meetings give many team members a chance to step out of their normal “comfort zone” and lower the inhibitions that prevent creative thought.

Plan a quarterly team energizing event, either as an on-site portable team challenge or as an off-site retreat. The focus should be on fun, and the team should be encouraged to relax with one another and get to know each other in new and unusual situations – not simply the day-to-day work relationship of the office.

Walt Decherd Swine Flu News By Rahul Shariff

Is swine flu the last straw that will break the camel’s back (world economy) already reeling under the effects of global recession? This is a question worth analyzing as it proves which countries are resilient enough to face the economic slow down and the swine flu menace. While some countries might adapt to the situation well some others could be badly hit as a lot of funds and resources which could otherwise be used for putting the economy back on track will be spent on fighting the virus. Health expenditure across continents has risen significantly and developing as well as developed nations which were slowly turning the corner had to put certain key expenditures on the back burner to address this heath issue.

What has the virus got to do with the economy? Which industries are affected due to its growth? Is it leading to job loss? Is it crippling the economy? Analysts have always found a relationship between good healthy people and a robust economy. Healthy countries tend to grow faster as productive time is not lost due to sickness. Swine flu with its ability to affect millions of people eats away productivity as more and more people report sick for work. This starts a chain of reactions which though not directly connected has the ability to lead the economy into a spin. There have been a lot of travel advisories issued by various countries to avoid traveling to places where the virus has left many affected.

Most countries have a screening system in place at airports and stations where people traveling constantly are checked. People who are found sick are given the appropriate treatment and quarantined for sometime till they recover. Economies which are dependent on tourism are the worst affected. Tourists across the world have changed their travel plans and most of them have also canceled it totally. There are a lot of industries which are connected to tourism ranging from airlines, hotel industry, food joints and food industry. Airlines and hotel industry which were already reeling under the impact of recession are the worst hit industries. They have accumulated huge losses and many are on the brink of closure. Many small industries which are closely associated with these are also invariably affected by the swine flu effect.

All this has resulted in huge loss of revenue to the respective governments and it has also led to huge job losses. This has also led to the social expenditure of the countries increasing as they have to support people out of jobs. What swine flu has done is to add to the worries of the global economy and the recovery which was supposed to happen within six months could probably take a year now. Health is wealth and a healthy economy which is not bound down by swine flu will prosper the fastest. Countries which spend money on health issues and are able to control the spread of swine flu will stand a better chance to end their recession