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

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

As you approach retirement, one of the most important considerations is securing reliable income streams that will support you through the remainder of your life. Alongside Social Security, pensions, ...

Annuities are insurance contracts that you can purchase to provide a stream of income for as long as you live. Think of them as life insurance in reverse. With life insurance, you pay premiums ...

This chapter is about how the lifetime income protections available through deferred variable annuities can support a retirement income goal through risk pooling and mortality credits. The next ...

Let’s start with the obvious: We’re in a low-interest-rate environment, and according to the Fed, we’re going to be here for a number of years. With 10-year Treasuries yielding about 0.75%, building ...

These annuities also won more legitimacy in 2014 as academics and lawmakers embraced them. The Treasury Department produced guidelines for the use of qualified plan dollars within deferred-income ...

A recent WSJ article recommended that annuities be a default option in retirement plans. The author responds to readers’ ...

Although annuity sales are still seeing record highs, investor interest may eventually shift away from fixed-rate deferred annuities and towards other annuities products that have more growth ...

To get a new tax break included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, some seniors need to lower their taxable income. Annuities ...

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