I opened an IRA account for 2006 ($4,000). Can I also open an annuity for the same tax year?

Question

Yearly, I file my income tax using standard deductions. As a single person, I an seeking other avenues for tax deductions.

Answer 1

You can't open another annuity where your contribution is tax deductible. You could buy an after-tax annuity, but that will give you tax deferral only and would not reduce your taxable income.

You might want to look into getting high-deductible health insurance for yourself and opening a Health Savings Account. The contributions are tax-deductible without itemizing, plus the distributions are tax free if they are used for medical expenses. And after age 59.5, you can treat distributions which are non-medical as if they were IRA distributions. So, the HSA can be treated as another IRA, with other benefits as well.

Answer 2

If you are talking about a tax deferred annuity that is not part of an IRA, where the agent is going to make a bundle off of you and where the tax deferral is not worth the cost then yes you can.

Answer 3

There are direct-sold, low cost annuities available from Vanguard, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, etc.

As the other responders said, no tax deductions. But, if you have maxed out other opportunities for tax-deferred growth and have an anticipated long tern holding period, they are worth a look.