What Is a Retirement Annuity?

Let’s start with the big question: Is there such a thing as a “retirement annuity”? Yes—but it’s not a product category. It’s a concept. A retirement annuity is any annuity that helps you solve for your retirement-specific needs using contractual guarantees.

At The Annuity Man, we strip away the fluff and drill down to the facts. So, let’s descend from 30,000 feet and zoom in on what you really need to know.

Retirement Is About Guarantees—Not Growth

You’ve chased the market. You’ve seen the dot-com boom, the 2008 crash, crypto collapses, and volatile earnings seasons. You’ve surfed beside the cruise ship—and maybe even got sucked under it a few times. Now you’re asking: Is it time for guarantees?

That’s where annuities come in. But annuities are not market growth products. They are contracts. And if you want pure upside potential, stick with growth-oriented investments. But if you're entering retirement, it's time to talk guarantees.

The Two Questions That Matter

Every conversation about annuities should start with just two questions:

What do you want the money to contractually do?
When do you want those contractual guarantees to start?

Your answers determine the type of annuity that might fit. Not a sales pitch. Just logic and math.

The P.I.L.L. Framework

To simplify further, we use the P.I.L.L. acronym:

P: Principal Protection
I: Income for Life
L: Legacy
L: Long-Term Care / Confinement Care

If you don’t need to solve for at least one of these, you don’t need an annuity. And that’s okay. Approximately 40% of the people who contact us don’t end up purchasing one, and we’re okay with that.

What If You Do Need an Annuity?

Here’s how the answers to those two questions play out:

Want Principal Protection Now?

You’re likely looking at:

Multi-Year Guarantee Annuities (MYGAs) – The annuity industry’s version of a CD.
Fixed Index Annuities – CD-type products with index-linked accumulation. Not market products.

Want Lifetime Income Starting Now?

You’ll want to quote a:

Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA) – The oldest and most efficient income annuity on the planet.

Want Lifetime Income Later?

You're looking at:

Deferred Income Annuities (DIAs) – An Immediate Annuity you defer.
Qualified Longevity Annuity Contracts (QLACs) – A DIA that lives inside your IRA.
Income Riders – Attached to deferred policies for guaranteed future income.

So, What’s the “Best” Retirement Annuity?

There is no best product or carrier until you answer the two questions. Once you do, we quote all carriers using our proprietary calculators to find the highest Contractual Guarantee for your needs.

We then evaluate based on claims-paying ability and ratings—no sales pitches, just data.

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