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So the question is, what's the difference between a pension and an annuity? Is a pension the same as an annuity? We're going to go into that. Short answer is they're both lifetime income guarantees, but let's dig further and do a side-by-side comparison of pensions and annuities so you can understand what's out there.

“Got guarantees?” should be the annuity industry's mantra to words because that's what they are. They're contractual guarantees. They're transfer of risk products, period. If you're a living, breathing, human-being with a bank account, then you're probably going to get pitched an indexed annuity by somebody because it's a good story.

The hottest “sounds too good to be true” and “best thing since sliced bread” product to hit the financial world in the past few years is the Fixed Index Annuity (FIA). Regardless of your specific financial goals, some agent or financial advisor will most likely pitch you this product…

There are many types of fixed annuities.