Sustainable Income Portfolios (SIPs) are designed to provide inflation-adjusted income from your investment portfolio. Why hand your money over to an insurance company for the promise of lifetime income, when you can have your cake and it eat it too? While it sounds "safe" to convert your retirement savings into lifetime income by purchasing an immediate annuity that guarantees you monthly payment
s for as long as you live, one needs to consider the hidden “risks” of such a product. Second, you undertake risk that the insurance company can’t fulfill their promise (AIG on the verge of collapse in 2008?). Most importantly—you lose your flexibility, and your principal; there will be no money for your heirs. That is one HUGE, irreversible decision: to hand over your nest egg to an insurance company for the promise of lifetime income. That doesn’t even take into account the “return” you’ll get on your money. In 2015, income from immediate annuities often nets a new retiree about 6% of the premium paid (i.e. That’s not a “return” of 6%; that’s your money you’ll be getting back for the first 17 years. In effect, the insurance company is betting you won’t outlive the interest they’ll earn on your savings in those first 17 years. We think the best annuity you can buy is Social Security (untapped benefits after age-62 grow at nearly 8%!). If you’re considering an annuity for retirement income, the first step would be to defer your Social Security benefits until age 70. That's why we developed “annuity alternatives” that we call Sustainable Income Portfolios (SIPs). They are designed with the aim of regularly taking the inflation-adjusted income from your investment portfolio, without eating away at the principal over time. We utilize low-cost, passive investment like ETFs to build a tax-efficient, income-producing investment portfolio that allows you to have your cake - and nibble from it, too. Thanks to our Sustainable Income Portfolios, we encourage you to "SIP" income from your investments.