A fixed annuity provides a guaranteed income stream. Payouts can be immediate or deferred. Drawbacks include limited upside. Annuities can help ensure your retirement savings last your entire life.

An annuity can provide you with a steady stream of income, ensuring that you have money when you need it. That’s why many people turn to annuities during retirement, to be sure that they have cash ...

A deferred annuity is a long-term contract with an insurance company that provides future income–often for life–in exchange for premium payments, with options like fixed, variable, and indexed types ...

Immediate fixed annuities and deferred fixed annuities are finding a growing market in the wake of the financial market meltdown. It’s no wonder. Their guaranteed payout rates are more than 8 percent ...

In 2025, both annuities and certificates of deposit (CDs) offer attractive, guaranteed returns, especially as interest rates are expected to drop soon. If you're looking for a safe, fixed return on ...

Learn what annuities are, how fixed, variable, indexed, immediate, and deferred annuities work, and how they can help provide steady retirement income.

Building a Ladder to Financial Security. By Randy Myers. The situation: You want to use cash in your retirement savings to buy a fixed annuity. Your worry: interest rates are low ...

LIMRA data show 2025 annuity sales topping $460 billion as RILAs, FIAs, and fixed-rate deferred products drive growth.

Insurance companies generally prefer that annuity contract holders do not surrender their contracts. While a surrender charge penalty would apply, and some of those who surrender an annuity are doing ...

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. But while it's imperative to have a solid plan in place for your ...

Laurie Sepulveda is a MarketWatch Guides team senior writer who specializes in writing about insurance, investing, personal loans, home equity loans, mortgages and banking. She lives in North Carolina ...