With
immediate income annuities you begin receiving payments immediately after purchase, whereas with deferred income annuities you can choose to begin receiving payments at a date much later on.
(In contrast,
immediate income annuities begin payments within 1 year.)
An immediate income annuity begins annuity payments within one year of the premium payment.
Not exact matches
In their simplest form,
annuities guarantee an
income stream for buyers either now (
immediate annuities) or
beginning at a later date (deferred
annuities).
However,
income annuities (sometimes referred to as «
immediate annuities» or «deferred
income annuities,» depending on when
income payments
begin) do offer a predictable guaranteed stream of
income that you can't outlive.
Like an
immediate annuity, a longevity
annuity provides guaranteed
income for life, except that while you invest your money now, the payments don't
begin until later, typically much later, say, 10 to 20 years in the future.
If you want the guaranteed
income to
begin soon — say, to pay for essential living expenses beyond what
income from Social Security alone will cover — then an
immediate annuity would be a better way to go (although you may still want to hold off a bit to get a better handle on what your actual expenses will be after you retire).
Second, the tax treatment describe here applies only to deferred
annuities (contracts that have an accumulation period, during which your money earns interest;
immediate annuities, which provide an
income beginning within one year of purchase, get very different tax treatment and do not present the issues described here.
There are many kinds of
annuities out there, but there are two types that I think make the most sense for retirees looking to convert a bit of savings into a lifetime
income stream:
immediate annuities, which as their name implies,
begin making payments immediately; and longevity
annuities, which start making payments in the future, sometimes 10 or 20 years down the road.
Most
annuities purchased in Canada are
immediate:
income payments
begin immediately after purchase.
A longevity
annuity is similar to an
immediate annuity in that you give an insurer a lump sum in return for a guaranteed lifetime
income stream, except that you don't
begin collecting that
income until some point in the future, say, 10 or even 20 years later.
Annuities certainly aren't for everyone, but generally I think people who feel they need more guaranteed income than Social Security alone can provide should consider putting some (but not all) of their savings into two types of annuities that are relatively easy to understand and evaluate: immediate annuities, which convert a lump sum of savings into monthly payments that begin immediately, and longevity annuities, which allow you to convert an investment now into payments that will start later, say, 10 or more years down
Annuities certainly aren't for everyone, but generally I think people who feel they need more guaranteed
income than Social Security alone can provide should consider putting some (but not all) of their savings into two types of
annuities that are relatively easy to understand and evaluate: immediate annuities, which convert a lump sum of savings into monthly payments that begin immediately, and longevity annuities, which allow you to convert an investment now into payments that will start later, say, 10 or more years down
annuities that are relatively easy to understand and evaluate:
immediate annuities, which convert a lump sum of savings into monthly payments that begin immediately, and longevity annuities, which allow you to convert an investment now into payments that will start later, say, 10 or more years down
annuities, which convert a lump sum of savings into monthly payments that
begin immediately, and longevity
annuities, which allow you to convert an investment now into payments that will start later, say, 10 or more years down
annuities, which allow you to convert an investment now into payments that will start later, say, 10 or more years down the road.
If you purchase a single premium
immediate annuity, you'll receive
income within 12 months of purchase —
beginning one month after purchase (for monthly payouts), one quarter after purchase (for quarterly payouts), and so on.
Secondary market
annuities can be similar to
immediate annuities, offering an
income stream that
begins in one month.
With the single premium
immediate annuity,
income can
begin immediately, or very soon after, an individual obtains the
annuity.
Immediate annuities are sometimes referred to as single premium
immediate annuities, because you make the upfront investment (the «premium», in insurance terminology), and then
begin receiving benefits (
income payments).
With an
immediate annuity, you immediately
begin receiving
income payments soon after you purchase it.
However, many people who have already retired and need
annuity income right away opt for
immediate annuities, which skip the accumulation phase and
begin to issue payments as soon as you invest in the contract.