Fixed (multi-year guaranteed)
A locked interest rate for a set term, with no market exposure. The closest thing to a CD inside an insurance contract. Best when you know the date you will need the money.
Fixed, indexed & income
Annuities for income that keeps arriving.
Chosen the right way, an annuity turns a lump sum into a paycheck you cannot outlive. We write fixed, fixed indexed, and income annuities, explain what each one gives up in exchange for its guarantee, and say plainly when a CD, a bond ladder, or doing nothing beats the annuity in front of you.
What this covers
Which annuity fits which worry.
They are not interchangeable. The right contract depends on whether you are more afraid of losing money or of outliving it.
Fixed indexed
Growth follows an index with a floor of zero, so a down year credits nothing rather than a loss. In exchange, gains in a strong year are capped. You trade the top of the market for the bottom.
Income annuities
A fixed contract converted into a paycheck, starting now or at a future date you choose. The longer you defer, the larger each payment. Built for the fear of outliving savings.
Tax-deferred growth
Interest compounds without a yearly tax bill, so nothing is lost to taxes along the way. Withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income, and gains come out first.
Beneficiaries and heirs
A named beneficiary receives the remaining value directly, outside probate. How that value is paid, and how it is taxed, depends on the contract and who inherits it.
Moving money you already have
An existing annuity, IRA, or 401(k) can often be repositioned without triggering tax. We check what the current contract charges to leave before recommending you leave it.
The guarantee
Guaranteed income for life.
This is the one thing an annuity does that no other product does — but it comes from the payout you choose, not from the word on the contract. An income annuity taken over your lifetime, or a lifetime income rider added to a fixed or fixed indexed contract, pays every month for as long as you live, however long that turns out to be. A fixed annuity on its own guarantees a rate for a term, not income for life, and a rider is priced separately. We will tell you plainly which one is in front of you.
An income annuity paid over your lifetime
A lifetime income rider on a fixed or fixed indexed contract
Payments that continue however long you live
A joint option that keeps paying a surviving spouse
Annuity calculator
What would your annuity actually pay?
Slide in what you have and what you can set aside. The math updates as you move, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Estimated monthly income$1,352
Paid every month from age 65, drawn from a projected balance of $285K after 13 years of growth.
Talk it through Illustration only, not a quote. Growth is an assumption held for the whole projection: a fixed annuity locks its rate for a stated term, and a fixed indexed annuity follows an index with a floor of zero and a cap on gains. Income here is paid for the number of years you chose and then stops — a contract that pays for life is priced separately by the carrier at issue. Withdrawals before age 59½ may incur a 10% IRS penalty. Surrender charges, rider fees, and taxes are not modeled, and guarantees rely on the issuing carrier’s claims-paying ability.
Typically included
What a fixed or indexed contract usually carries.
Terms vary by carrier and product. These are the provisions worth confirming in writing before you sign anything.
A guaranteed minimum interest ratePrincipal protected from market lossTax-deferred growth until withdrawalA stated surrender schedule and its chargesA penalty-free withdrawal allowance each yearNamed beneficiaries, paid outside probateA death benefit for heirsOptional income riders, priced separatelyState guaranty association coverage limitsNot sure? Ask us
Where policies fall short
Where annuities disappoint people.
Almost every complaint we hear traces to one of these five, and every one of them is visible in the contract before it is signed.
The surrender period outlasts the plan
Money committed for seven or ten years is genuinely committed. Withdraw early and the surrender charge takes a share of it. The question is not whether the rate is good, but whether you can leave the money alone that long.
The cap is not the return
An indexed annuity illustrating a strong cap rarely credits that cap every year, and dividends are usually excluded from the index calculation. The floor of zero is real; the ceiling is what gets oversold.
Inflation eats a fixed payment
A level payment that looks generous at 65 buys noticeably less at 85. That is the trade for certainty. It is worth deciding on purpose rather than discovering it two decades in.
Rider fees reduce the income they promise
Guaranteed income riders are charged annually against the contract value, every year, whether or not the guarantee is ever used. The benefit can be worth it. The fee still has to be named out loud.
It was never the right tool
Money that may be needed soon, or that is already earning well somewhere accessible, usually does not belong in a contract with a surrender schedule. Sometimes the correct recommendation is to keep the CD.
Common questions
Before you buy one.
The questions people actually ask us, answered the way we answer them in the office.
Do you sell variable annuities?
No. A variable annuity is a security, not an insurance product, and selling one requires securities registration we do not hold. We write fixed, fixed indexed, and income annuities only — all of them insurance contracts. If a variable annuity is genuinely what you need, we will say so and point you to someone licensed for it rather than steer you to a product we can sell.
Can I lose money in an annuity?
Not to the market, in any of the three. A fixed contract credits a stated rate; a fixed indexed contract has a floor of zero, so a down index year credits nothing rather than a loss; an income annuity pays the schedule set when you buy it. The real risks are different, and they vary by product: surrender charges if you withdraw early from a fixed or indexed contract, inflation eroding a level payment, and rider fees reducing value over time. An income annuity carries its own trade — it is generally irrevocable, and on a life-only payout the payments stop at death, so dying early can return less than you paid unless you add a period-certain or cash-refund option.
What growth rate is realistic?
Multi-year guaranteed annuities have recently been landing in roughly the 4 to 5.5 percent range, and that rate is contractual for the term. Indexed products illustrate higher but rarely credit the cap every year. If you want a conservative planning number, use 4 percent and treat anything above it as upside.
How accurate is the calculator on this page?
It is a compound-growth projection with a level payout, which is close to how a fixed annuity behaves and a reasonable frame for an indexed one. It does not model surrender charges, rider fees, bonus credits, or taxes. Treat the number as a starting point for a real carrier illustration, not as a quote.
What happens to the money when I die?
Whatever remains goes to your named beneficiary, outside probate. How it is paid out and how it is taxed depend on the contract and on who inherits it — a spouse generally has options a non-spouse does not. This is worth confirming in writing rather than assuming.
Do you get paid more for selling annuities?
Annuity commissions are paid by the carrier and vary by product and term. We will tell you the commission on anything we recommend if you ask. We will also tell you when a CD, a bond ladder, or simply leaving the money where it is beats the annuity in front of you.
Our review
What we review.
What the money is for, and when you may need it
The surrender schedule and its charges, year by year
The guaranteed minimum rate, not just the illustrated one
Index caps, participation rates, and how gains are credited
Every rider fee, charged annually against the contract
Beneficiary designations and how they are taxed
The carrier's financial strength ratings
Whether a CD, bond ladder, or no annuity at all fits better
Know exactly what you’re buying.
We’ll explain the guarantees, fees, surrender terms, and income options in plain English—and tell you if something else may fit better.