Insurance products and services are offered through LaTour Advisory Group, Inc., an affiliated company.
In a year that’s already marked by inflation uncertainty and prolonged market volatility, annuities have re-emerged as a potential stabilizing force in retirement portfolios. If you’re revisiting your retirement strategy in 2026, there are critical questions to ask: How will I generate consistent income for decades? How can I shield part of my portfolio from market swings? How do I make sure I don’t outlive my savings? Annuities can offer practical, powerful answers.
At their core, annuities provide guaranteed (Guarantees are based on the claims paying ability of the carrier.) lifetime income —an increasingly rare feature in the face of declining pension availability. But in Springfield and beyond, the role of annuities has expanded far beyond income alone. Today’s modern annuities have the potential to act as a hedge against market volatility, a tool for tax-deferred growth, and a backstop against sequence-of-returns risk that can erode portfolios if early retirement years coincide with a downturn. Let’s take a closer look at how they fit into a diversified retirement strategy.
Income You Can’t Outlive
- Lifetime payout options help secure coverage for essential expenses like housing, food, and healthcare.
- Unlike withdrawals from investment accounts, annuity payments are not affected by market downturns.
- This consistent income allows retirees to invest other assets more confidently for long-term growth.
When used strategically, annuities can provide peace of mind and a solid financial floor.
A Non-Correlated Anchor
Market downturns are inevitable. What matters is how you prepare for them. Fixed and fixed indexed annuities are not directly tied to equity performance, which makes them a non-correlated asset class. They can provide balance, smoothing out volatility and reducing reliance on selling stocks in a down market. In Springfield, we’ve seen clients benefit from using annuities as “buffer assets” to fund necessary living expenses so that their higher-risk holdings can remain untouched and recover over time.
Efficient Growth and Tax Benefits
Tax-deferred compounding may not sound exciting, but its long-term effect can be substantial.
- Annuities grow tax-deferred, which means gains are not taxed until they’re withdrawn.
- This often results in better compounding than taxable accounts, CDs, or money markets.
- In retirement, distributions can be managed for tax-efficiency, especially when paired with other income sources.
Annuity Strategies for 2026
One of the great things about annuities is that there’s no “generic” approach. A thoughtful blend of annuity types often works best:
- MYGAs (Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity) provide predictable returns for fixed periods—ideal for conservative investors.
- FIAs (Fixed-Indexed Annuity) offer market-linked growth potential with protection against losses.
- Variable annuities, for those with higher risk tolerance, may add additional growth within a protected framework.
A Springfield-based advisor can help you align these options with your specific goals and income needs.
Let’s Build Your Future Confidence
Your retirement shouldn’t hinge on market headlines. It should be built on a foundation of smart planning, predictable income, and tailored strategies. At LaTour Asset Management of Springfield, we help clients make sense of annuity options—not just as insurance products, but as integrated tools within a larger, long-term strategy. If you want to explore how annuities might fit your goals in 2026 and beyond, call us at (877) 888-5724.
