Oct. 22, 2007 issue

There comes a time when savers stop working and want to withdraw money from their retirement accounts. New mutual funds from Fidelity (fidelity.com) and Vanguard (vanguard.com) are designed to help.

Both offerings are diversified mutual funds that will make automatic monthly payouts to investors. Retirees can move their IRA or rollover 401(k) into one of these funds when they’re ready to start getting distributions. They provide some of the same benefits as annuities, but without lifetime guarantees or the hefty fees.

The Fidelity Income Replacement Funds consist of 11 funds of varying time horizons from 10 to 30 years. The monthly payouts are calculated so that they rise with inflation and deplete the fund entirely when it matures. For example, $100,000 invested in a 20-year fund would yield an initial monthly payout of $543 a month.

The Vanguard offering, due early in 2008, consists of three Managed Payout Funds, distributing 3 percent, 5 percent or 7 percent of assets a year, in monthly payments. An initial investment of $100,000 in those funds would yield initial monthly payouts of about $250, $417 and $583, respectively.

Investors who opt for these funds should do so with tax-favored accounts, such as IRAs or a 401(k) rollover to avoid tax-filing complexities. Once you’re getting those payouts, you’ll have better ways to spend your time.

—Linda Stern