Should you buy Annuities now?

In an unusual move, the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (Irdai) has asked LIC to review the return on its flagship immediate annuity product Jeevan Akshay, because it is too high. The regulator wants the insurance company to ensure that returns are in line with yield on LIC's investments.

Here are the factors you should consider before locking in to very long term annuity products like Jeevan Akshay .

Returns: Immediate annuity products used to give low returns compared to market rates. However, with the market rates coming down, the returns offered by these products is now comparable with that of others. For instance, the rates available for annuity with return of premium after the death of the annuitant works out to be 6.48% for someone aged 60. This 6.48% return is similar to long term fixed deposit (FD) rates offered by SBI.

Restrictions: Although other schemes like Senior Citizen Savings Scheme offer higher yield (8.3% ), there are restrictions on tenure and amount invested (maximum of `15 lakh for 5 years). "The main advantage of annu ity is that it offers guaranteed rates for life. Every other product comes with some restrictions or the other," says Deepak Yohannan, CEO, My Insurance Club.

Safety: "Safety is paramount for older investors, so they look for assured return products like annuities," says Mishra. This is why the rates are comparable to SBI FD rates. If you increase the risk level a bit and go with FDs from smaller private banks, you can get slightly higher returns.

Debt mutual fund is another option that generates similar returns now.However, the returns are not guaranteed and it carries the interest rate risk and re-investment risk. Even if you go with liquid fund, the safest option, there is the risk of returns coming down if broad market rates fall.

Diversification: "Guaranteed annuity for life is a huge positive, but that doesn't mean you should invest everything in it," says Agrawal. Diversification is necessary because one can't rule out an increase in interest rate.Experts suggest locking in no more than 33% of your retirement corpus."Given the falling interest scenario and the fact that the return offered is similar to that of bank FDs, it makes sense to invest around 50% of your corpus in annuities," says Yohannan.

Taxation: The annnuity amount is treated as pension and taxed at marginal rates. However, investors in annuity for life will be at a disadvantage because annuity includes a part of their principal, which is taxable."Debt mutual funds score from the taxability perspective," says Amol Joshi, Founder, PlanRupee Investment Services. Since the capital gains from debt mutual funds are taxed at 20% after indexation, the tax incidence is lower. It's a good option for investors in the highest tax slab. However, the tax incidences of debt mutual funds have been going up in the recent past.

Age: You are eligible to buy annuities from the age of 30, but it pays to wait, especially if you opt for annuity for life, since the rates increase significantly with age. However, this holds only if the interest rate structure remains stable in the interim.

Though rates move up slowly with age for return of premium annuities as well, the difference is very low, so it doesn't make sense to wait. "The decision to lock in should be based on age and the rates available. Since the rate offered is good and expected to fall further, this is a good time to invest," says Agrawal.

Times of India
02/10/2017