Annuitants Can Defer Streams

Symetra Life Insurance Company has added a payment timing option to the Symetra Freedom Income Annuity contract.

Customers who use individual retirement account money or other "tax-deferred" money to buy the annuity now can wait until some age after 70.5, up until age 94, to collect annuity income, according to Symetra Life, a unit of Symetra Financial Corp., Bellevue, Wash.

A decision to postpone receiving income payments may have tax consequences but also can increase the holder's flexibility, Symetra says.