How Do Income Riders Work?

October 10, 2026
•
9 min
How Do Income Riders Work?
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Ever wondered how income riders work? In this video, I break down the basics of income riders and why they are attached to an underlying annuity policy. Learn what to look for when comparing income riders, why the timing of your desired income matters, and why focusing on contractual guarantees is essential when evaluating retirement income strategies.

▶️ WATCH NEXT: https://youtu.be/IjvCSxqLFN0

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Stan The Annuity Man

Key Moments in this Episode
========================
00:00 Introduction to the Video
00:35 How Income Riders Work
01:44 How To Compare Income Riders
02:19 Understanding Income Rider Rollup Rates
03:21 How Agents Use Misleading Sales Pitches
05:15 Attaching Income Riders to Index Annuities
06:27 How Income Riders Provide Lifetime Income
07:09 Helpful Annuity Resources
07:55 Next Video To Watch

What To Watch Next:
========================
https://youtu.be/IjvCSxqLFN0

Resources
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https://www.stantheannuityman.com/get-smarter/annuity-books

🔢 Use Our FREE Annuity Calculators + Live Rate Feeds:
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🎧 Listen to the Fun With Annuities Podcast:
https://youtube.com/@funwithannuities

Learn More About Stan The Annuity Man
========================
Stan The Annuity Man® is known as “America’s Annuity Agent®” and the top independent annuity agent in the United States, licensed in all 50 states. He is a firm believer that annuities should NOT be purchased for market growth and is focused on educating the consumer so that they can make an informed decision on their terms and on their time frame. Stan has published 7 books on the annuity topic and prides himself on being a consumer advocate for all things annuity.

========================
Video by Nate Woodbury
BeTheHeroStudios.com
http://YouTube.com/c/NateWoodbury

#StanTheAnnuityMan
#Annuity
#TheAnnuityMan
#Retirement

  • 0:00 Introduction to the Video
  • 0:35 How Income Riders Work
  • 1:44 How To Compare Income Riders
  • 2:19 Understanding Income Rider Rollup Rates
  • 3:21 How Agents Use Misleading Sales Pitches
  • 5:15 Attaching Income Riders to Index Annuities
  • 6:27 How Income Riders Provide Lifetime Income
  • 7:09 Helpful Annuity Resources
  • 7:55 Next Video To Watch

0:00
Hi there, Stan the Annuity Man,

0:01
America's annuity agent, licensed in all

0:03
50 states in Puerto Rico. I say that for

0:07
V behind the camera and Big C as well. I

0:10
think he's bilingual. Who knows?

0:12
Question of the day is, how do income

0:14
writers work? Stan the annuity man. I'm

0:19
hearing a lot of nonsense out there.

0:21
Stan, can you break it down as only you

0:23
can in simple stanglish? And the answer

0:26
is yes. And that happens after this.

0:34
So, how do income writers work? Hey,

0:38
Stan, first of all, can you slow it down

0:40
and tell us what an income writer is?

0:42
Yes. An income writer is an attachment

0:45
to a policy. You can't just say, "Then I

0:47
just want the income writer. That's it.

0:50
Just buy that." You can't do it. It

0:51
rides on top of a policy and it provides

0:55
lifetime income. So draw a line down a

0:58
blank sheet of paper.

1:00
Income writer on this side, index

1:03
annuity, variable annuity on this side.

1:04
Could care less. Could care less. Income

1:07
writer contractual guarantee. Only look

1:09
at what a policy will do, not what it

1:11
might do. Will do. Might do. Will do.

1:14
Might do. Will do.

1:16
Contractual guarantee. It's the income

1:18
writer. Once again, don't care about the

1:22
delivery system. What we have found

1:24
though is index annuities are the most

1:26
efficient and cost-effective delivery

1:28
system for the income writer. Income

1:30
writers come with a fee for the life of

1:32
the policy. But that fee comes out of

1:34
the index side.

1:36
Net transaction to you. Fees don't come

1:39
out of the income writer side. Fees come

1:41
out of the index side.

1:44
Income writer is a commodity product. So

1:46
we ask two questions. What do you want

1:47
the money to contractually do? When do

1:49
you want those contractual guarantees to

1:51
start? From those two answers, let's

1:53
just say you want lifetime income. You

1:54
want income to start in six years, seven

1:56
years, five years, whatever down the

1:58
road. We're going to quote income

2:00
writers. We're going to quote all income

2:02
writers A+ or better for the highest

2:05
contractual guarantee. We don't care

2:07
about the name. We don't care about the

2:09
brochure. We don't care about the logo.

2:13
We care about the number. A+ or better.

2:17
Income writers. Now, income writers can

2:20
have what's called rollup rates. Doesn't

2:22
matter. People say, "Well, Stan, this

2:24
old boy down here got one with a 10%

2:26
rollup rate." That's not yield, Ernie.

2:29
Let me give you an example that you can

2:30
grasp onto and hug like a little kitten

2:33
and understand it and pet it and love it

2:36
like a kitten.

2:40
Social Security, the best inflation

2:41
annuity on the planet that all of you

2:43
already own. So, please don't say you

2:44
hate all annuities because you already

2:46
have one. But let's say say you're 65

2:50
and you can turn it on at 70. It grows

2:52
by Uhhuh. Fill it. Yeah. Uhhuh. 8%

2:57
while you wait. That's a rollup rate. Is

2:59
that real money? Yes or no? No, Stan.

3:03
It's a rollup rate and I just get more

3:05
money when I'm 70. Correct. Mundo.

3:08
Income writers have rollup rates. Is

3:10
that real money? No, Stan. All that

3:13
means is when I get older, I get more

3:14
money because I'm older. Correct. Mundo.

3:18
See how that works?

3:21
But here's the sales pitch. That's just

3:25
it's so low IQ that when I repeat it, I

3:28
think I I I I lose IQ points. Good news

3:31
is I can, you know, I can afford to do

3:33
that, you know. Hey, Mr. Jones, you you

3:36
get this upfront bonus and you get uh

3:39
mar upside with no downside and you get

3:41
a roll up rate of 8% in lifetime income

3:43
with long-term care. Garbage bonus.

3:46
Candy for the stupid. There is no upside

3:49
market upside with no downside.

3:51
Long-term care is a health insurance

3:53
product. So that's fraudulent. And the

3:55
rollup is not yield. Here's one for you.

3:59
Income writers, last time that someone

4:01
in the industry told me this fact, I

4:03
fell on the ground in a fetal position

4:07
crying. Here's what they said. Stan,

4:10
over 60% of people with income writers

4:12
never turn them on.

4:16
What?

4:18
Here's why. Johnny Apples Seed and

4:20
Joanna Apples Seed agent, they're not

4:23
married, they're brother and sister, but

4:24
they're at the Bad Chicken Dinner

4:25
Seminar. They're selling the rollup as

4:28
yield. Don't believe me? I had a call

4:31
the other day and Ernie, oh yeah,

4:33
saying, you know, I see your miger rates

4:35
at five. This is percent and this and

4:37
that and 6%. Well, I got one over here,

4:40
son, for eight. I'm like, Ernie, that's

4:42
a that's an income writer rollup rate.

4:44
That's not yield. Yeah, it is yield. I

4:47
see it on my statement. It's yield. No,

4:49
it's not. And if you're out there

4:51
saying, "You're wrong, Stan." Call the

4:54
company, not the agent. Please, please

4:56
call the company and say, "That money's

4:58
been growing by 8% on the rollup rate on

5:00
my income writer. Can you just send me

5:01
that lump sum, please?" Now they can't

5:05
remember my social security

5:08
um example rollup rate

5:11
income writer rollup rate same thing.

5:15
Here's the other thing about income

5:16
writers. When you attach an income

5:17
writer to an index annuity the income

5:20
writer is always going to be a higher

5:22
number than the index annuity.

5:23
99.99999999%

5:26
of the time. Got a call from a lady the

5:28
other day. hates her index annuity

5:31
because of course it's not performing as

5:33
promised. But her income writer was way

5:37
above that. And the reason that that's

5:39
important to know is annuity companies

5:42
do that for a reason. They want to make

5:43
it sticky. Meaning if you transferred

5:46
that index annuity, the income writer

5:48
amount doesn't transfer. Hello. Just the

5:51
index side. Here's another one you might

5:53
want to stick in your, as they said,

5:56
they used to say this in the south,

5:57
stick this in your pipe and smoke it.

5:59
Who smokes pipes anymore, though? I

6:01
mean, if anyone was going to smoke

6:02
pipes, it'd be me with an ascot with a

6:04
with like a annuity man logo. Okay.

6:08
Income writers, remember the draw line

6:10
down, blank sheet of paper, index

6:11
annuity, which we don't care about.

6:12
Income writer, we do care about the

6:14
contractual guarantee. This part's not

6:16
covered by the state guarantee fund.

6:20
Hello.

6:22
That's the reason we're A+ or better

6:25
when we do lifetime income. What is an

6:27
income writer and how does it work? An

6:28
income writer is a contractually

6:30
guaranteed

6:32
income for life strategy

6:35
for typically income at at a future

6:37
date. If you answer the two questions,

6:39
what do you want the money to

6:40
contractually do income? When do you

6:42
want those contractual guarantees to

6:43
start? five years, six years, seven

6:46
years. We're going to quote income

6:47
writers and DAS and maybe Ulax with that

6:50
because Ulax are a DA that you use

6:51
inside of your IRA. Those are income

6:54
later products.

6:56
Income now products is immediate

6:58
annuities. Income later products, income

7:01
writers DSQAX. Just remember, income

7:04
writers are commodity products. You shop

7:05
them all for the highest contractual

7:07
guarantee, A+ or better. Period. If you

7:09
go to my site, you can do that. Pull up

7:11
the income writer quote system. Run it.

7:14
Look at the highest contractual

7:16
guarantees. Now, we show all carriers,

7:18
but we're going to choose A+ or better.

7:20
We're the top. We're the top I'm the top

7:22
agent in the country. I'm going to show

7:23
all carriers, but we're going to choose

7:25
A+ or better. Go to my site. You can

7:27
download a book on income writers that I

7:28
wrote. You can download a book on index

7:30
annuities that I wrote. You can download

7:32
a book on the other four products. So,

7:34
the six total owners manuals you get for

7:36
free. You can sign up for my next live

7:38
event. You can sign up for my Saturday

7:40
newsletter. You can book a call if you'd

7:42
like. You can email me if you don't want

7:43
to do any of those.

7:44
Stantheanuityman.com.

7:46
But the best thing that you can do on my

7:49
site is get these quotes and these

7:52
contractual guarantees anonymously.

7:54
Above my headspinning clock is a is a

7:57
video that I did on this. We are the

8:00
only ones that don't play games here.

8:03
Retirement's not a game. It's not a

8:05
movie. Okay? We're serious about this.

8:07
You can get the best quotes on the

8:09
planet by just putting in your date of

8:12
birth, gender, and state of residence.

8:14
No phone number, no name, no email.

8:17
We're the only ones that have the guts

8:19
to do that. We don't play games and have

8:21
you sign up for an account and things

8:22
like that. We are the only ones. I want

8:25
to educate you and edutain you at the

8:27
same time. And I want you to be a

8:29
client. But that's step one. Step one

8:31
is, "Hey, Stan, I'd really like to know

8:33
what the numbers are, but I really don't

8:34
want to talk to you right now. I just

8:35
want to know what the numbers are." Hey

8:37
Stan, I'd really know want to know what

8:38
the contractual guaranteed numbers are,

8:40
but I don't want to give I in the last I

8:42
mean I've been hacked. I don't want to

8:43
give away my information. I don't trust

8:45
the internet. I don't trust the hackers.

8:46
I don't trust the bots. Me neither.

8:50
That's why we do it like we do it.

8:53
Because the other nasty secret, people

8:55
that have you sign up, most likely

8:58
they're selling your names for $150 to

9:01
$300 a pop. Wonder how Johnny Apples

9:04
Seed gets your number? Get your email.

9:07
Wonder how that happens exactly. We're

9:10
going to do away with that.

9:14
Watch that video. Get in contact with

9:16
me. Think about it. Think about hiring

9:19
us as your annuity specialist. Been

9:21
doing it for a long time. Top agent out

9:23
here. Would love to have you as a

9:25
client. See you next time.

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