Sometimes people move to California, make a lot of money… and then retire somewhere ‘cheaper.’ Incline Village in Nevada comes to mind, as do many locations in Arizona and elsewhere where the weather is still pretty good, but the cost of living is less. And people in California generally live (or attempt to live) a healthy lifestyle, and our life spans are (fortunately) getting longer and longer. So enter retirement and income planning. How long will you live? Will you have enough money? 
With recent fluctuations in the stock market, more and more people are worried about the return on investment. In addition, with the increasing cost of healthcare, more and more people are worried about outliving their retirement savings. Enter deferred income annuities. This relatively new vehicle, allows for individuals to purchase an income annuity that will guarantee them a monthly payout for as long as they live,
With a deferred income annuity, you pay an insurance company now in return for a predetermined amount of cash flow in the future. Until recently, this type of annuity was not really practical for retirement accounts because the required minimum distributions typically start after age 70 1/2 on the annuity value even though no cash would be coming from the annuity. However, new changes are making this situation better.
The article in our monthly San Francisco tax tips newsletter, for an informative discussion on deferred income annuities, here.
