ANNUITIES
The seamless integration of the Web into our daily financial lives has been on the hype list for years now, but even with all the ballyhooing, it hasn't exactly been easy to find ways to neuromance money. Lincoln Financial Direct, though, has a new offering called eAnnuity that's dreamily bit-based and extremely Web-friendly.
In simplest terms, an annuity is a contract that can provide, after an initial deposit and a specified period of time, a regular payout to the annuitant for life. This enables buyers to hedge against outliving their resources, and taxes are not collected during the accumulation phase.
Lincoln's offering is an individual, variable annuity for which all account activity - including setup, changes, and withdrawals - is performed through www.eannuity.com. For those who want to track the annuity's performance, reports are available to the policyholder "at least once every three months." As with investment plans like 401(k)s, the initial deposit is placed in one or more subaccounts that move with the market according to your investment objectives. In this case, subaccount options include mutual funds from Fidelity, Janus, Putnam, and others.
The purpose of putting this product online is to, surprise, save you - and Lincoln - money. Overhead (including fees and expenses) is "projected to be between 1 and 2 percent," the site boasts, while "other companies spend from 4.5 to 8 percent." There is no charge to transfer funds between subaccounts. Lincoln's offering is not yet available in every state. But for those who can find it, the added conveniences will make the transition to life on the Web easier.
eAnnuity: www.eannuity.com.
NEW MONEY
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