Annuity experts have published a new guide to the most popular types of individual annuities available in the United States today.
The Lifetime Income Risk Joint Committee — an arm of the American Academy of Actuaries — posted the issue brief on the academy website late last month.
Actuaries are people who have taken tests to prove that they understand the kinds of math needed to analyze insurance and pension risk. The American Academy of Actuaries is a group that helps actuaries communicate with federal, state and local policymakers.
What It Means
The authors of the new guide are hoping that advisors and others will use it to get short, clear, accurate annuity product descriptions.
"Having a clear understanding of annuity types is important to personal finance writers, advisers, and retirement plan actuaries who serve defined contribution plans," the authors write in the guide.
The Guide
The authors of the guide focused on common types of income annuities and deferred annuities, including single-premium immediate annuities and deferred income annuities on the income annuity side, and fixed annuities, fixed indexed annuities, variable annuities and registered index-linked annuities, or RILA contracts, on the variable annuity side.
