Most of the people who call Phil about this did not plan to be here. They retired two years earlier than they meant to. The pension ended with the company, or there never was one. A spouse's check stopped. The savings are still there, but every withdrawal feels like a guess.
The question under all of it is the same. What turns a lump sum into a check that arrives next month and keeps arriving?
There are four common answers: draw the savings down, live on CD or bond interest, live on dividends, or claim Social Security at 62 because it is the only guaranteed money in sight. None of them was built for this exact job.
One insurance contract was built for exactly this. It is called a single premium immediate annuity, or SPIA. In our rate tables as of , the best figure turns $100,000 into $693 a month for life for a 65-year-old man, starting one month after the money arrives. Know the trade before you go further. The money you convert stops being a lump sum. New York Life's fact sheet says the contract is irrevocable and has no cash surrender value, which in plain words means you are buying a paycheck and cannot sell it back. If that is the deal you are looking for, request a free SPIA quote and Phil will run all 8 carriers we publish for your age.
What a SPIA Is, and Why the First Check Can Come in About 30 Days
You hand an insurance company a single premium, and it sends you a check every month, starting on a date you choose, for the rest of your life or for a set number of years. No account to manage, no statement to watch. Our guide to what a SPIA is covers the mechanics.
The word immediate has a legal meaning. Section 72(u)(4) of the tax code defines an immediate annuity as one bought with a single premium whose payments start no later than one year from purchase. Past that line it is a deferred annuity. The carriers work inside that year. Nationwide's INCOME Promise Select guide lets you begin payments anywhere from 30 to 365 days after the contract is issued; you pick the date on the application. New York Life's fact sheet says payments must begin within 12 months of purchase. Buyers who need income now take the earliest date.
You also choose the shape of the check. Our payout options guide prices each one.
- Life only: the most per month, stops at death.
- Life with a period certain: a set number of years guaranteed, then for life.
- Cash or installment refund: at least your premium comes back to someone.
- Period certain only: a fixed term, no lifetime piece.
- Joint life: one check for two people.
Now what you give up. The money is no longer yours to reach. There is no cash surrender value, and once the free-look period (the short window state law gives you to cancel for a refund) closes, the contract is final. The check does not grow either. It is level for life unless you buy an increase option, which starts it lower (see the inflation question below). A SPIA is where the bill money goes, never the emergency fund.
What $100,000 Pays Starting Next Month, Age 55 to 80
These are the figures from our October 2026 rate tables for $100,000: a monthly check that begins one month after purchase and continues for life, with a 5-year period certain so at least 60 payments are made. Click an age for every carrier's figure.
| Age | Man, best | Woman, best | Couple, both this age, best | Average of 8 carriers (men) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | $616/mo | $602/mo | $572/mo | $563/mo |
| 60 | $649/mo | $634/mo | $585/mo | $595/mo |
| 65 | $693/mo | $658/mo | $608/mo | $649/mo |
| 70 | $767/mo | $724/mo | $659/mo | $723/mo |
| 75 | $893/mo | $839/mo | $731/mo | $840/mo |
| 80 | $1,046/mo | $986/mo | $847/mo | $995/mo |
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.
Age moves the number more than interest rates or the choice of carrier does. A man's best figure climbs from $616 at 55 to $1,046 at 80, a difference of $430 a month on the same $100,000. An 80-year-old is expected to collect fewer payments, so each one can be larger, and the people in the pool who die early leave money behind for those who do not, which actuaries call mortality credits.
The figures pool quotes for IRA money and for savings held outside an IRA, which carriers call non-qualified funds. Our tables hold ages 55 through 80. Above 80, Phil runs quotes one at a time and the figures keep rising; the age limits guide covers which carriers issue past 80.
A different lump sum scales the same way: see what $100,000 pays per month, $250,000 or $500,000. If you start from the check you need, what $2,000 a month costs works backward to the premium.
The Other Ways to Get Income Now, Side by Side
| Option | First check when | Who guarantees it | Principal comes back | Lasts for life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPIA | About a month after funding, or up to a year | The insurer, then your state guaranty association | Only via a refund or period-certain option | Yes, on a lifetime payout |
| CD ladder | First interest payment; principal at each maturity | FDIC, to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category | Yes, at maturity | No; each rung reprices |
| Dividend stocks | Next declared dividend | No one | Only by selling, at that day's price | No |
| Drawing down savings | Whenever you write the check | No one | What you have not spent | Only if the money outlasts you |
| Deferred income annuity or QLAC | More than a year out by definition | The insurer, then the guaranty association | Only via a death benefit or refund option | Yes, once it starts |
| Social Security at 62 | After SSA approves the claim | The federal government | Not applicable | Yes, with a cost-of-living adjustment |
A CD ladder is the fair comparison. The CD pays interest and hands the principal back at maturity, and the FDIC insures it to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. But the rate resets at every rung, and the interest is the whole check. The best SPIA quote for a 65-year-old man works out to 8.3% of the premium a year, and part of that is your own money coming back. Our annuity vs CD guide runs the numbers.
Dividends are a hope. A board can cut them in a bad year, and the share price moves every day, so the principal is never a fixed number. Drawing down savings has nothing behind it at all. It only works if the money lasts exactly as long as you do. Live to 95 and the plan was a guess.
The deferred income annuity, and its IRA cousin the QLAC, make the same lifetime promise as a SPIA. But by design the first check arrives more than a year out, often many years out. The contract is irrevocable the whole time and pays nothing until then. It is the wrong tool for someone who needs a check next month, and we do not sell or quote them. SPIA vs deferred income annuity vs MYGA lays out the difference. One more thing the FDIC FAQ says plainly: annuities are not FDIC-insured. What stands behind a SPIA is the insurer's reserves and your state guaranty association, covered below.
Should You Claim Social Security at 62 Just to Get Income Now?
It is tempting, because the check is guaranteed. But the cut is permanent, and the rule is written into 20 CFR 404.410. The benefit drops 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months you claim before full retirement age, and 5/12 of 1% for each month beyond 36. If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67 under 20 CFR 404.409, so claiming at 62 is 60 months early. That is 20% for the first 36 months plus 10% for the next 24: a 30% reduction, for life.
Waiting works the other way. Under 20 CFR 404.313, every month you delay past full retirement age earns a delayed retirement credit of 2/3 of 1%, about 8% a year, through the month you turn 70. Nothing accrues after that. The arithmetic: the age-70 check is 124% of the full benefit, against 70% at 62, so it is about three-quarters larger, with a cost-of-living adjustment on top (2.8% for 2026).
That last point is why we think of Social Security and a SPIA as two layers of the same floor. Social Security adjusts for inflation and comes in one size. A SPIA stays level unless you buy an increase option, and you can size it to the bills. Most people Phil works with end up with both. Our annuity vs Social Security guide goes deeper.
One caution. Phil is not a Social Security advisor. Before you claim early, log into your own record on SSA's site and look at the figures at 62, 67 and 70.
Income Now While You Wait for Social Security at 70: The Bridge SPIA
Phil sees this case often. Say you are 62 and want the age-70 Social Security check. That leaves eight years to cover. A period-certain-only SPIA pays for a fixed number of years and then stops. Buy one that runs from 62 to 70, and the larger Social Security check takes over the month the annuity ends.
On an eight-year term the insurer is betting on the calendar rather than on how long you live. The whole premium plus interest is paid out inside the term, so the monthly figure per $100,000 runs higher than a lifetime contract at the same age. When the term ends, so does the check.
Our surveys cover lifetime quotes with a 5-year certain only, so period-certain-only figures are not on this site; Phil runs them on request from the carriers that offer them (Nationwide's guide lists a 3- to 30-year term certain). For reference, the lifetime figures at the two table ages either side of 62, in our October 2026 rate tables: at 60, $100,000 buys up to $649 a month for a man, $634 for a woman and $585 for a couple; at 65, $693, $658 and $608. A bridge quote on the same premium comes in above those.
A tax note for buyers under 59½. A bridge bought with after-tax savings counts as an immediate annuity under section 72(u)(4), so the 10% additional tax that section 72(q) puts on early annuity payments does not apply. Ordinary income tax on the earnings portion still does. IRA money before 59½ has its own rules: read buying an annuity with IRA money first.
For a bridge quote, request a free SPIA quote and note the year payments should start and the year they should stop.
Who Stands Behind the Check: Carrier Ratings and State Guaranty Limits
When the check is the plan, who stands behind it matters more than the last $10 of monthly income. The eight carriers in our rate tables, all rated A or better by AM Best:
- New York Life: AM Best A++
- Nationwide: AM Best A+
- Western & Southern: AM Best A+
- Athene: AM Best A+
- Penn Mutual: AM Best A+
- Pacific Life: AM Best A+
- Mutual of Omaha: AM Best A+
- Lincoln Financial: AM Best A
Seven carry A+ or A++; Lincoln Financial is A. Our carrier ratings page explains the scale.
Behind the insurer sits the state guaranty association. NOLHGA, the associations' national body, says most states cover $250,000 in present value of annuity benefits (roughly, what your remaining payments are worth today). Connecticut, New York and Washington cover $500,000. New Jersey covers $500,000 for an annuity in payout with no cash surrender value, which is what a SPIA is. Minnesota covers $410,000 for annuities paying out for life or for a period certain of at least 10 years (a shorter bridge gets the $250,000 limit). Coverage generally comes from the association in your state of residence when the insurer is ordered into liquidation. The limits follow the NAIC model act and vary, so check your state's guaranty association limit. Above the limit, coverage is prorated: NOLHGA's own example is a $300,000 present value at a $250,000 limit, 83.3% covered.
Two rules follow. Split a large premium across two carriers so each contract sits inside your state's limit. And get quotes from all 8 carriers we publish side by side, because carriers price the same check differently: at 65 in our October 2026 tables, the best and lowest male figures on $100,000 are $120 a month apart. Comparing SPIA quotes has the checklist.
If you are married, price the joint version. A joint life contract with 100% to the survivor keeps paying the same check after the first death, and household costs do not fall by half when one of the two Social Security checks stops. At 65 the couple's figure was $608 against $693 for a man alone; see joint annuity rates and the joint and survivor annuity guide for the 75% and 50% versions.
How Fast the First Check Can Arrive: From Quote to Deposit
- Quotes. One survey request covers all 8 carriers we publish, and more, with the same age, premium and payout shape, so the figures line up.
- Pick the carrier and the shape of the check. Lifetime or bridge, and single or joint.
- Application. The carrier's paperwork, signed, with the payment start date you chose.
- Funding. A check or bank transfer moves quickly. An IRA transfer moves at the old custodian's pace, and that is the step that most often adds time.
- Contract issue. The carrier issues the contract once the money has arrived.
- First payment on the date you chose. About a month from funding is the usual case, and the table figures above assume exactly that.
State law gives you a free-look period to cancel for a full refund; the length varies by state, and some states lengthen it for older buyers (the age limits guide gives California's rule). Phil does not promise day counts; each carrier and custodian moves at its own speed.
What to Do Next
- Write down the gap. Monthly bills on one side, what already arrives on the other. The difference is the check you are shopping for.
- See the figure for your age. Your row in the table above, the age 65 rates page, or the SPIA calculator.
- Request quotes. Use the quote page and say whether you want a lifetime check or a bridge to 70. Phil runs one survey that covers all 8 carriers we publish.
What we tell people at this point, across the table: cover the bills with the SPIA and leave the savings alone. Add up what has to be paid every month no matter what, subtract Social Security, and buy a SPIA for that number. Leave the rest where it can grow and where you can reach it.
