In an effort to help their clients eliminate the risk of outliving their retirement income, Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust has partnered with MetLife to offer a new annuity option. According to a recent article from PLANSPONSOR, MetLife Retirement Income Insurance is qualifying longevity annuity contract (QLAC) that will provide participants with payments on or before their 85th birthday.
As participants move closer to retirement, they can designate a part of their plan balance toward the MetLife QLAC, excluding this amount from funds used to determine the required minimum distribution, which individuals must take after age 70 ½. Income payments from the QLAC then begin on or before their 85th birthday.
“Participants face an unanswerable question of how many years they will spend in retirement. Offering this product to our clients supports our philosophy of helping retirement plan participants to and through their retirement,” said Joe Ready, head of Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust. “We’re pleased to continue to add options that help people prepare for retirement and move the conversation from accumulation into a discussion about managing and drawing down their retirement savings after they retire. At Wells Fargo, we’re committed to supporting participants with tools, resources and products that help them at this stage of the retirement journey.”
Individuals interested in learning more about the MetLife product can do so at existing education sessions, or by calling the Wells Fargo Retirement contact center. Information can also be accessed online at the Wells Fargo Retirement Resource Center.
“As the company that introduced longevity insurance into the marketplace, we are pleased that Wells Fargo will be making MetLife’s Institutional QLAC available to its 401(k) clients for their plan participants,” said Roberta Rafaloff, vice president, Institutional Income Annuities, MetLife. “Allowing plan participants to take a portion of their retirement savings to protect against the biggest risk in retirement – longevity risk – can help ensure better retirement outcomes.”
Written by Rachel Summit
