Annuities are arguably the most common, most utilized, yet most misunderstood financial products available to consumers today. In fact, most investors have no idea that there are actually four very different and unique types of annuities available to them. Instead, most people have been misled by both the media and certain financial personalities who lump all annuities together as if each one works exactly the same.

What exactly is an annuity? According to the dictionary, an annuity is an amount of money that is systematically paid to a person for a specified period of time, often for the rest of his or her life. Essentially, an annuity is just a good, old-fashioned income stream. Today there are four different types of annuities available to consumers. It’s often likely that it would make sense for you to have at least one of them in your overall retirement plan.

*Guarantees are based solely on the financial strength and claim-paying ability of the issuing company and compliance with product requirements