What are the tax consequences of buying an annuity?

Forum|Forum|10 months ago
June 2, 2025
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What are the tax consequences of buying an annuity? Can I buy one with IRA funds? Can I buy one with ROTH funds? What are the tax consequences?

Thank you.

Not A Product Question

Bsch4477

You can buy an annuity within your IRA or Roth like any other investment and the same tax implications.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcarlson/2023/06/18/heres-the-full-story-on-owning-annuities-in-iras/

Kipmc7Author

The Forbes article suggests not buying an annuity within a Roth IRA. The argument was that, since a Roth funds grow and are distributed tax-free, they should be used for growth assets. I don't think I agree. 1) Since most annuities are purchased by people close to or in retirement, even their "growth" assets should be in fairly low-risk investments, and the difference between their "Growth" assets and their "Income" or low-risk assets should be small. An annuity that pays a set return may even be more "growth" than other assets held.

2) An investor who has built up a sizable portfolio will be faced with RMDs. The guaranteed growth of the value of funds in annuity held in a Roth account do not add to the balance subjected to RMDs and therefore save on taxes.

What are your thoughts?