Sammons Debuts Mutual Fund IRA

The LiveWell Plus is the first mutual fund IRA (individual retirement account) to offer a 3% account bonus on IRA rollovers and contributions available exclusively through independent financial advisers, the company said in a statement.

Advisers can use the mutual fund IRA to jumpstart long-term retirement planning strategies and enhance IRA values. For rollovers and contributions, an account bonus equal to 3% of the net amount of the rollover or contribution will be added to the account. The 3% account bonus enables advisers to help new and existing clients put retirement assets into a single account and give their savings an immediate boost.  

The goal of LiveWell Plus is promoting long-term retirement asset growth. With access to more than 100 mutual funds from 19 fund families—including industry heavyweights like PIMCO and BlackRock, as well as boutique managers—advisers have flexibility in creating investment strategies that suit their clients’ long-term retirement goals, time horizon and risk tolerance.

According to William Lowe, president of Sammons Retirement Solutions, LiveWell Plus could be a tool to help advisers combat inertia and help get clients and prospects off the sidelines to consolidate their assets for long-term retirement planning.

A minimum rollover/contribution of $50,000 is required to open a LiveWell Plus Mutual Fund IRA, and contributions are allowed for six months after opening the account. The program is available for traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, inherited IRAs and SEP-IRAs as well as rollovers or transfers from qualified plans such as 401(k), 403(b) or governmental 457 plans. The offering has no front-end loads, no fees for reallocations or rebalancing, and charges one recordkeeping fee plus fund expenses. For amounts over $100,000, the recordkeeping fee is 0.85% for the first six years, dropping to 0.40% in the seventh year.

An Early Withdrawal Charge (EWC) may apply to amounts withdrawn in the first six years. Understanding that individuals may need occasional access to their IRA assets, account holders may withdraw certain amounts or required minimum distributions, if greater, with no fees during the first six years. Because the account is designed to encourage long-term savings, withdrawals above the EWC-free amount will be subject to a fee.

Sammons Retirement Solutions, a member of Sammons Financial Group, provides retirement solutions focused on IRA rollovers and other retirement assets.