Here is the definition Phil uses. A check arrives every month for as long as you live. Someone with a legal duty to pay it, and the money set aside to back it, has promised it in writing. No market to watch, no withdrawal plan to manage.
Four things pass that test for most retirees: Social Security, a pension from an employer or a government, and two insurance contracts. One is the single premium immediate annuity, the SPIA, the one product we sell. The other is a lifetime income rider bolted onto an indexed or variable annuity, which we explain further down.
What Counts as Guaranteed Lifetime Income (and What Does Not)
A bond ladder, a dividend portfolio and the 4% rule are plans, often good ones. Nobody has signed anything that says the money lasts. The 4% plan goes in the table below as the control row, so you can see what a guarantee costs.
Here is the trade. The guaranteed sources pay more per dollar, and in return you give up access to the money. The income rider keeps the account in your name and pays less.
Every SPIA figure here comes from our rate tables as of , which cover 8 carriers rated A or better by AM Best. The basis: $100,000, single life or joint life with 100% to the survivor, a 5-year period certain, income starting next month. Best means the highest of the 8.
Source: LifeAnnuities.us quote surveys run for real clients. The figures start from quotes our agent runs for real clients, not advertised rates or illustrations. For the base tables we received 54 survey runs covering 30 client scenarios, prepared July 14 to September 14, 2026, and used 52 of them for pricing (2 runs used annual payments and were left out of pricing). 17 carriers were quoted. On we checked the tables against 7 new survey runs (4 client scenarios, prepared September 18 to 29, 2026). 11 runs were received and 4 were not used (4 runs were for a 41-year-old, well below our table ages; two of them were at $5,000,000). We repriced 1 of the 8 carriers we publish (Athene, up about 1.8%) and held the other 7 at their earlier figures. A repriced carrier has its whole table moved by its own measured change on quotes for the same age and sex. New York Life: readings were mixed, so we held its figures until the next round. Two direct comparisons with mid-September quotes came in 0.7% and 1.6% higher once premium size is allowed for. A third, measured through August, came in 0.6% lower. How each figure is built. Men: 60, 65 and 80 read at surveyed ages; 55, 70 and 75 interpolated between surveyed ages. Women: all ages derived by ratio. Joint: 55, 60, 75 and 80 derived by ratio; 65 and 70 calibrated to a direct same-age joint quote. None of the figures in our tables is a direct quote from the latest survey round. They are built from earlier rounds (read at surveyed ages, interpolated or derived from carrier ratios) and checked carrier by carrier against the latest one. Joint figures at ages 65 and 70 are calibrated to a direct joint quote (same-age joint quote, both spouses 66, 100% to the survivor, 5-year period certain, prepared September 18, 2026). That corrects an estimate. It is not a market move. Basis: single life or joint (100% to survivor), 5-year period certain, income starting next month, per $100,000. Full method and known limits. Free to cite with attribution to LifeAnnuities.us.
The 4 Guaranteed Sources Side by Side
Five rows. The fifth is not guaranteed. It is there so you can see what the guarantee costs you in access to your money.
| Source | Who guarantees it | What $100,000 pays at 65 and at 70 | Survivor options | Inflation | Liquidity | Credit risk and guaranty limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security | The federal government | Not for sale; earned through work | Widow or widower from 60; at full retirement age, 100% of the worker's basic benefit | Yes, by law and at no cost: 2.8% for 2026 | None; it is a benefit, not an account | Federal; no guaranty limit applies |
| Defined-benefit pension | The plan, insured by the PBGC if it is a private plan | Not for sale; earned through work | Joint-and-survivor forms set by the plan, chosen at retirement | Rare in private plans; common in government plans | None once payments start | PBGC: up to $7,789.77 a month at 65 in 2026, single-employer plans; government plans are not PBGC-insured |
| Immediate annuity (SPIA) | The insurance company | Man: $693 and $767 a month (8.3% of premium a year at 65). Woman: $658 and $724. Couple, 100% to survivor: $608 and $659. | Life only, period certain, cash or installment refund, joint life at 100%, 75% or 50% | Not built in; a few carriers sell a 1% to 4% annual increase, elected at purchase, for a lower starting check | None: irrevocable, no cash surrender value (a few contracts allow one limited withdrawal) | Insurer's claims-paying ability plus your state guaranty association: $250,000 or more in present value in every state, $300,000 to $500,000 in some |
| Income rider on an indexed or variable annuity | The insurance company | $492 and $533 a month: 5.90% and 6.40% of a $100,000 benefit base, before a 0.80% annual charge on the base. One carrier's May 2026 rate sheet; rates vary by carrier and product. | Joint option pays less (5.40% at 65 on the same sheet); account value left goes to heirs | Some riders offer a set annual raise or a CPI-linked increase, which stops once the account value hits zero | Account value stays yours, less surrender charges in the early years | Same insurer backing and guaranty association coverage as the SPIA |
| Control: 4% withdrawal plan (not guaranteed) | Nobody; money stays yours | $333 a month at 4%; $325 at Morningstar's 3.9% safe starting rate (30 years, 90% success) | Whatever is left goes to heirs | You raise it each year; the market decides whether it holds | Full | Market risk; no guaranty |
Social Security: The Only One With a Built-In Raise
Social Security is the only source on the list with a raise built in by law. The cost-of-living increase for 2026 is 2.8%, effective with December 2025 benefits, and nobody pays a premium for it.
The one lever you control is when you claim. Under 42 U.S.C. 416(l), full retirement age is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later, and the earliest claim is 62. Section 402(q) sets the cut for claiming early. Claim at 62 with a full retirement age of 67 and the check is 30% smaller for life. Wait past 67 and section 402(w) adds 8% a year until 70, so the check at 70 is 24% larger than at 67.
A widow or widower can claim from 60 (50 if disabled), and at full retirement age the survivor benefit equals 100% of the worker's basic benefit (what Social Security calls the primary insurance amount). Claim it earlier and it is reduced.
Taxes: under IRS Publication 915 (2025), up to half your Social Security is taxable once half your benefits plus your other income passes $25,000 single or $32,000 joint. Above $34,000 and $44,000, up to 85% is taxable. The taxable part of each annuity payment counts as other income in that test. The part that is a return of your own premium does not.
Delaying Social Security is the cheapest guaranteed, inflation-adjusted income most people can buy. Our annuity vs Social Security guide covers the two-layer paycheck: Social Security underneath, an annuity on top.
If Your Job Gave You a Pension (Most Private Jobs Do Not)
A defined-benefit pension is the same promise from an employer: a monthly check for life, sized by your pay and years of service. The catch is who has one. In the March 2025 National Compensation Survey, 14% of private-industry workers had access to one; among state and local government workers it was 86%. Most private-sector retirees have a 401(k) balance instead.
Private single-employer plans are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, funded by premiums the plan sponsors pay. The 2026 maximum guarantee at 65 is $7,789.77 a month as a single-life annuity, or $7,010.79 as a joint-and-50%-survivor annuity. It is $5,063.35 at 60 and $12,931.02 at 70. Benefits above the cap are not covered, and increases added within five years before the plan ends may be only partly covered. Multiemployer (union) plans have a much smaller guarantee: at most $12,870 a year for a worker with 30 years of service. Government pensions are not PBGC-insured; they rest on the state or city's ability to pay.
Survivor options come from the plan's joint-and-survivor forms, chosen at retirement. Cost-of-living increases are common in government plans and rare in private ones, so ask. Liquidity is zero once payments begin; a lump-sum offer at retirement is a separate decision we do not price here.
The Immediate Annuity: Buying a Pension With Your Own Money
If your job never gave you a pension, a SPIA is how you buy one: one premium to an insurance company, a check every month for life, starting within a year. Our guide to what a single premium immediate annuity is covers the mechanics. Here is what $100,000 buys in our October 2026 rate tables, best of 8 carriers, with a 5-year period certain:
| Age | Man, single life | Woman, single life | Couple, same age, 100% to survivor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | $693/mo | $658/mo | $608/mo |
| 70 | $767/mo | $724/mo | $659/mo |
At 65 the best and lowest male figures in our tables are $120 a month apart on the same $100,000, $1,440 a year, which is why the same request goes to all 8 carriers. Every carrier's figure is on the age 65, age 70 and joint rate pages; the rates index covers 55 to 80.
Survivor options. Life only pays the most and stops at death. A period certain or a cash or installment refund protects a beneficiary, and joint life keeps paying a spouse at 100%, 75% or 50%. Each guarantee lowers the check; the payout options guide and the joint and survivor guide price each one.
Inflation. Not built in. A few carriers sell an annual increase option: New York Life's Guaranteed Lifetime Income Annuity II offers 1% to 4% a year, elected at purchase, in exchange for a lower starting check.
Liquidity. This is the trade. In New York Life's words, the contract "is irrevocable and has no cash surrender value." A few contracts carry a one-time withdrawal feature. New York Life's allows one withdrawal after 59½: up to 100% of the discounted value of the remaining guaranteed-period payments (nonqualified policies only), or 30% of the discounted value of the remaining expected payments. Discounted value means what those payments are worth today, not their face amount. The whole amount is taxable. Treat those as emergency doors. If you want the principal back some day, this is the wrong product.
Credit risk. Stick to A-rated carriers and keep each contract under your state's guaranty limit. Every state association covers $250,000 or more in present value of annuity benefits (roughly, what the remaining payments are worth today), some cover $300,000 to $500,000, and a few raise the limit once the annuity is in payout status. Your state's page lists the figure that applies to you.
The deferred cousin. A deferred income annuity (DIA) is the same contract with payments starting years later, so the check is larger. We do not quote it. If you need the income now, the SPIA is the product. If you can wait a few years, the SPIA vs deferred income annuity guide runs the buy-now-or-wait math, and buying a second SPIA later is how we handle a delayed start. A QLAC is the IRA version, with its own tax rules.
Income Riders Keep the Account and Pay Less
A guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit (GLWB) is a rider on an indexed or variable annuity. It lets you withdraw a set percentage of a benefit base every year for life, and it keeps paying even if the account value runs out. The benefit base is a bookkeeping number the insurer uses to size the withdrawals; it is not money you can take out. We do not sell these; here they are described straight.
Pacific Life's rate sheet filed with the SEC on May 1, 2026 covers its Retirement Growth and Income variable annuity. At 65 the lifetime withdrawal percentage is 5.90% single or 5.40% joint; at 70 it is 6.40% or 5.90%. The rider charges 0.80% of that base a year (Pacific Life calls it the protected payment base), maximum 2.00%. It credits 5.00% a year to that base until the first withdrawal or the tenth contract anniversary, whichever comes first. Turn it on at 65 with a $100,000 base and no waiting: $492 a month, against $693, the best SPIA figure in our tables for a man of 65.
Bigger percentages on indexed annuities need a second look. F&G's Safe Income Advantage flyer shows an 8.03% payout percentage at 65. Read the footnote: that figure is for a 60-year-old who waited 5 years while the benefit base was credited 7.2% a year on paper, and it comes to $11,368 a year from $100,000. That is a deferral product, the indexed-annuity answer to a DIA, and it says nothing about what $100,000 buys at 65 with no wait. Whenever someone quotes a percentage, ask whether it applies to the account value or to a rolled-up benefit base.
Where the rider wins. The account value stays in your name, less surrender charges in the early years, and whatever is left at death goes to your heirs. Some riders offer rising payments: F&G's offers a set 3.5% raise or an inflation-linked increase (tied to the CPI) of up to 5% a year, with the raises stopping once the account value reaches zero. For someone who cannot stand the word irrevocable, that is a real benefit.
Where the SPIA wins. Income per dollar, with no rider fee and no benefit-base fine print. What you are quoted is what you get. There is no growth formula to decode and no fee charged on a number that was never real money.
What You Give Up for the Bigger Check
A SPIA at 65 pays about 8.3% of the premium a year (part of it your own money coming back), for life, with no access to the balance. The rider example pays 5.90% of the base before a 0.80% charge, and the account stays yours. The 4% plan pays 4%, the money stays yours, and nobody guarantees anything.
The SPIA is for the person whose worry is running out of money. The rider trades some income for the right to keep the balance in your name. The 4% plan gives up the guarantee entirely, and people with far more savings than expenses often choose it and do fine.
What we tell people: we sell the SPIA and nothing else. Anyone who wants to keep the principal should not buy one, and we would rather say that on the first call than after the free-look period, the window to cancel for a full refund, has closed.
How Much of Your Savings to Convert
The rule: add up essential monthly expenses (housing, food, utilities, insurance, medicine). Subtract Social Security and any pension. Convert only enough to cover the gap. Everything else stays liquid.
A $2,000 gap at 65 needs roughly $289,000 in a SPIA at the best male figure in our October 2026 rate tables. Our page on what an annuity that pays $2,000 a month costs shows the premium at every age. The $100,000, $250,000 and $500,000 pages work in the other direction. The guaranteed income estimator gives a rough figure for your own age and amount.
Two cautions. Do not convert the emergency fund. And if the premium is large, split it across two carriers to stay under your state's guaranty limit. The income floor method in our retirement planning guide walks through the worksheet.
What to Do Next
- Write down the gap. Essential expenses minus Social Security and any pension. That is the number you are shopping for.
- Look at the current figures for your age on the best SPIA rates page.
- Ask Phil to run the same request past all 8 carriers so the quotes line up.
If the honest answer is that an annuity does not fit, that is what you will hear.
