Retirement doesn't look like it used to. A generation ago, a pension check did the heavy lifting. Today, it's on retirees to turn their savings into income that will last.
Life insurers deliver the financial guarantees that convert savings into predictable payments and pension-like certainty across a lifetime.
For decades, many retirees could count on pension income. Today, fewer workers have that certainty.
Many Baby Boomers and Gen Xers worry about outliving their savings, while younger workers juggle competing financial priorities. When households cannot convert savings into reliable income, an ordinary financial risk becomes a crisis — straining families, public programs and the broader economy.
20 million Americans will turn 65 by 2030.
54% of Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers fear outliving their savings.
$1.3 trillion economic burden through 2040 with the current retirement savings gap.
65+ is the fastest growing age group in the U.S.
Annuities replicate the core promise of a pension: income that continues as long as someone may live. Purchased from life insurers, they supplement Social Security and help people manage financial risks — longevity, market volatility and rising costs — across a lifetime.
Annuities fall into two categories. Immediate annuities turn a lump sum into payments that begin within a year. Deferred annuities let savings grow tax-deferred before payouts start. Together, they help savers balance flexibility with certainty.
Policymakers can continue progress by making guaranteed lifetime income a routine part of retirement planning.
Expanding workplace annuity options can give more Americans the same certainty pensions once provided — through the plans they already use. Life insurers stand ready as an essential partner in delivering that protection across a lifetime.
The SECURE Act made it easier for employers to offer annuities and required lifetime income illustrations on benefit statements.
SECURE 2.0 encouraged partial annuitization and improved rules for qualified longevity annuity contracts.
