Since the Treasury and IRS finalized a regulation in the beginning of July blessing the use of qualified longevity annuity contracts, or “QLAC’s,” a lot of people have been wondering when and where they can buy one. Per the last paragraph of my September 15th “Don’t Expect to See QLAC’s Soon” post, speculation was that product launch may begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
The mystery is now behind us. The first QLAC to hit the market was recently released by AIG through American General Life Insurance Co with its American Pathway deferred income annuity. AIG enjoys overall high ratings from independent ratings agencies, including A+, or strong, ratings from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings, A, or excellent, from A.M. Best Company, and A2, or good, from Moody’s Investors Service.
What’s Different about QLACs?
Subject to their current investment limitation of the lesser of $125,000 or 25% of one’s retirement plan balance, QLACs offer two distinct advantages over other investment vehicles for meeting part of a retiree’s income needs as follows:
- A portion of retirement assets exposed to stock market declines can be exchanged for a predictable sustainable lifetime income stream beginning at a specific date up to age 85.
- Can defer income taxation of a portion of retirement plan balances for up to 15 years with its exemption from the required minimum distribution, or “RMD,” rules, that otherwise require taking minimum distributions from retirement plans beginning by April 1st of the year following the year that you turn 70-1/2.
Predictable Sustainable Lifetime Income Stream
QLACs are a special type of deferred income annuity, or “DIA.” A DIA is an annuity from which annuitization begins at least 12 months after the date of purchase in exchange for a lump sum or series of periodic payments. The annuitization can be for a term certain or lifetime, depending upon the terms of the annuity contract.
Fixed income annuities, including lifetime DIAs, have previously been allowed to be included in retirement plans provided that payments (a) begin by April 1st of the year following the year that the owner turns 70-1/2 and (b) are structured so that they will be completed distributed over the life expectancies of the owner and the owner’s beneficiary.
QLACs extend the potential income start date of retirement plan assets allocated to them to age 85. In addition to predictable sustainable lifetime income, this enables individuals who have other sources of income to increase the amount of annual income that they will eventually receive from QLAC investments compared to non-QLAC DIAs held in retirement asset accounts.
Circumvent RMD Rules for a Portion of Retirement Plan Assets
Other than converting retirement plan assets to Roth IRAs which often triggers income tax liability at the time of conversion, there has been no other game in town for avoiding the RMD rules prior to QLAC’s. QLAC’s offer an opportunity to defer taxation on up to the lesser of $125,000 or 25% of one’s retirement plan balance at the time of investment.
Depending upon the timing of the QLAC investment and the income start date, the reduction in RMDs and potential income tax savings can be significant. Suppose that you’re 50 and your traditional IRA, which is your only retirement plan, has a value of $600,000. Let’s further assume that you invest $125,000 of your IRA in a QLAC with an income start date of 80.
Had you not invested $125,000 in a QLAC, assuming a 4% rate of return, this portion of your IRA would grow to $273,890 when you turn 70. The first year RMD for this value would be just under $10,000. The income tax savings from not withdrawing this amount of income from your IRA and potential greater amounts for the next ten years could be significant.
QLAC Market
With the release of AIG’s QLAC, the cat is out of the bag. Other insurance carriers are either in the process, or will soon be, requesting regulatory approval for their QLAC offerings. Per my September 15th post, it was, and still is, my personal opinion that widespread availability will not occur until well into 2015. Once this happens and consumers understand and appreciate the two distinct advantages that QLACs offer over other investment vehicles for meeting part of a retiree’s income needs, I believe that demand for this unique product will increase significantly.
