Annuity Servicing FAQ

Yes. You can withdraw from all of USAA’s deferred annuities, except for the personal pension annuity. Some even let you withdraw online.
If you withdraw money from your annuity before you turn 59½, you may be assessed a tax penalty on some or all of what you withdraw. Keep in mind that federal or state taxes may apply, too. For guidance, speak to a tax advisor.

You can, but you may owe fees or taxes on it depending on when you do it.

A USAA Retirement Income Specialist can help you explore your options so you can decide what works best for you.

To start the process or get more information, call us at 800-833-9847.

It depends. If your annuity is still within the surrender period, then a surrender charge will apply. There may be federal or state taxes, too. You can find your surrender period and the surrender charge percentage in your annuity contract in My Documents. The IRS may also penalize you if you’re under 59½. For guidance, speak to a tax advisor.

To start payouts, also known as annuitization, call us.

Your options depend on the type of annuity and amount you overcontributed. To go over your options, you’ll need to call us.

Your annuity may have two contribution limits.

The first is specific to your annuity contract. To determine if there are any limitations, review your contract in My Documents.

The second is based on if you have a qualified annuity. This is when you bought an annuity using money that hasn’t been taxed yet. Your age also affects your contribution limits. An IRA and Roth have contribution limits based on your specific situation.

For guidance, speak to a tax advisor.

You can fill out an RMD form.

For more information, including important deadlines and tax considerations, check out our RMD resources.

To find out if you’ve met your RMD, call us. We also have tools to help you determine your RMD value.

To request money from your deferred annuity to go to a charity, call us.

If you have a flexible retirement annuity that allows additional contributions, you can set up automatic deposits. 

To set these up, you’ll need to choose a date for automatic transfers to end. 

You can change or cancel your automatic deposit with our funds transfer tool.

To change the deposit, you'll need to cancel it and set up a new one. From the Activity tab, select "View Details" on the deposit you want to cancel.

There are two places that show your annuity transactions.

For an overview of your annuity with a limited list of transactions, visit Member Home. Then select the annuity you want to review.

For a full list of transactions, refer to your contract owner statement. Depending on the preferences you set, we’ll send it once a year, twice a year or every quarter. If you get your documents online, you can find your statement in My Documents. If you can’t find it, call us.

You can update your beneficiary online. Or download, complete and return this Beneficiary Change form. 

Depending on the plan type, you’ll either need to contact the appropriate company or fill out a form.

You can only transfer funds from one qualified plan to another. The most common transfers are from IRA to IRA or Roth to Roth.

There are a few instances when you may want to transfer funds. If you want to:

• Transfer from one company to USAA, fill out a transfer form.
  
• Transfer from USAA to another company, fill out a transfer form from that company.
• Make a direct rollover from an employer-sponsored plan, contact the employer's plan administrator.
• Make an indirect rollover where you take the money out and put it back within 60 days, call us.

Remember, depending on how long you’ve owned the annuity, there may be surrender charges or state and federal taxes. For guidance, speak to a tax advisor.

An IRA rollover lets you move money from a retirement account like a 401(k) or another IRA to a USAA annuity. This can help you consolidate your accounts or take advantage of annuity features. There are 2 types of rollovers.

• Direct rollover: The money is transferred directly from your old account to the annuity. For a direct rollover, follow these instructions Opens in a New Window.
• Indirect rollover: You receive the money and have 60 days to deposit it into a new account to avoid taxes and penalties.
  

Our Survivor Relations team is available to guide you through the next steps after a loss. For additional support, use our survivor checklist Opens in new window. 

You can also learn how to file a life or annuity claim.

Depending on the transactions you completed over the past year, we’ll send one or both of these documents.

• Form 1099-R is sent to you in January for any distributions that could be taxed.
• Form 5498 is sent to the IRS in May. It’s a report of your IRA contributions for the year.

A fair market value statement shows how your annuity’s value has changed based on market interest rates. If you have a qualified annuity that you bought using money that hasn’t been taxed, you’ll get a statement in January. This only applies to qualified single premium income annuities. 

You can find your statement in My Documents.

You can find our servicing forms at USAA Forms.