What does SPIA stand for?

SPIA stands for Single Premium Immediate Annuity. You pay an insurance company one lump-sum premium, and in return the company pays you a guaranteed income, usually monthly, beginning within 30 days to 12 months of purchase, most commonly for the rest of your life.

How much does a SPIA pay per month?

In our October 2026 rate tables (best of the 8 carriers we publish), a $100,000 SPIA (single life, 5-year period certain) pays a 65-year-old man up to $693 per month, a 65-year-old woman up to $658, and a 65-year-old couple up to $608 with a 100% survivor benefit. Payouts rise with age: the same $100,000 pays a man up to $767/month at 70 and $893/month at 75.

What is the downside of a SPIA?

The main trade-offs are liquidity and inflation. Once you annuitize, the premium is committed. You generally cannot withdraw the lump sum back. And a fixed payment loses purchasing power over time unless you add an inflation or COLA rider, which lowers the starting payment. Life-only contracts also stop at death, which is why many buyers add a period-certain or cash-refund feature to protect heirs.

Is a SPIA a good investment?

A SPIA is not really an investment. It is insurance against outliving your money. It converts savings into a guaranteed lifetime paycheck with zero market risk. Retirement researchers generally recommend using a SPIA to cover essential expenses that Social Security does not, while keeping the rest of a portfolio invested for growth.

SPIA guarantees are backed by the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company, which is why carrier financial strength ratings (A, A+, A++) matter. As an additional backstop, every state runs a guaranty association that protects annuity benefits if an insurer fails, typically up to $250,000 of present value per owner, per company.

What Is a SPIA? Single Premium Immediate Annuities Explained

A SPIA (single premium immediate annuity) is an insurance contract that converts a one-time lump sum into guaranteed income (usually monthly, usually for life) starting within 30 days of purchase. In our rate tables as of October 1, 2026, a $100,000 SPIA pays a 65-year-old man up to $693 per month for life (single life with a 5-year period certain).

If you have ever wished you could trade a chunk of your retirement savings for a pension — a real one, that shows up every month for the rest of your life — this is that product. The SPIA is the oldest, simplest, and most transparent annuity you can buy, and it is the product this entire site is built around.

SPIA Definition: The 30-Second Version

A SPIA is a contract with an insurance company with exactly three moving parts:

Single premium: you pay once, as a lump sum. No ongoing contributions.
Immediate: income begins right away, usually within 30 days (and no later than 12 months). If the first check has to arrive next month, read when you need income now.
Annuity: the company pays you a fixed amount on schedule, most commonly for as long as you live.

That's the whole product. No market exposure, no annual statements to decode, no fees skimmed off a cash value — the payment quoted is the payment you get. The insurance company pools thousands of buyers, invests the premiums in bonds, and uses actuarial math to guarantee every member of the pool an income they cannot outlive.

What a SPIA Pays Right Now (October 2026)

Payouts change with interest rates and your age at purchase. As of October 2026, a $100,000 premium (single life with a 5-year period certain) buys, at the best figure among the 8 carriers we publish, all rated A or better by AM Best:

$693/month for a 65-year-old man ($8,316/year)
$658/month for a 65-year-old woman
$608/month for a 65-year-old couple with 100% survivor benefit
$767/month for a man waiting until 70 (payouts rise every year you defer)

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 October 1, 2026 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.

Larger premiums scale proportionally. See exactly what $300,000 or $500,000 pays per month, or check the full current rate tables. The best figure for a 65-year-old man is $693 a month, unchanged from September 2026 and up 2.7% since August 2026, the first month built from real quotes ($675 to $693).

Why Payout Rates Beat Interest Rates

A common confusion: a 65-year-old man receiving $693/month on $100,000 is getting a payout rate of about 8.3%, much higher than any bond yield. That's because each payment is part interest, part return of your own principal, and part mortality credits: the actuarial dividend that comes from pooling longevity risk with other buyers. Mortality credits are the reason no do-it-yourself bond ladder can safely match a SPIA's lifetime income: an insurer can promise payments to age 100+ because not everyone in the pool will get there.

SPIA Payout Options

The biggest decision after "how much" is the payout structure:

Life only: highest monthly payment; payments stop at death. Best when maximizing income is the priority and heirs are provided for elsewhere.
Life with period certain: payments for life, but guaranteed for at least 10 or 20 years. If you die in year 4 of a 10-year certain, your beneficiary collects the remaining 6 years.
Cash refund: if you die before receiving your full premium back, your beneficiary receives the difference as a lump sum.
Joint and survivor: payments continue for two lives, at 100%, 75%, or 50% of the original amount after the first death.

Each protection feature trades a little monthly income for certainty. We break down the real cost of each in our payout options guide.

SPIA vs. Other Annuities

The word "annuity" covers products that have almost nothing in common. Where the SPIA sits:

SPIA vs. deferred income annuity (DIA): identical concept, but a DIA starts paying years later (buy at 65, income at 75). Deferring buys a much higher payment.
SPIA vs. fixed deferred annuity (MYGA): a MYGA is a CD-like savings vehicle earning a fixed rate; it doesn't produce lifetime income unless you later annuitize it.
SPIA vs. variable/indexed annuities: these are accumulation products with market exposure and, often, the high fees that give annuities a bad name. A SPIA has no ongoing fees at all. Pricing is built into the quoted payment.

Full comparison in Types of Annuities Explained.

How SPIAs Are Taxed

It depends on the money you buy with. Purchase with after-tax savings (non-qualified) and the IRS treats most of each payment as a tax-free return of your own principal under the exclusion ratio, often 50–65% of each check. Purchase with IRA or 401(k) money (qualified) and payments are fully taxable as ordinary income, just as withdrawals would have been, and the SPIA payments automatically satisfy required minimum distributions on that money. State treatment varies; nine states tax no income at all. Details in How Are Annuities Taxed? and our state-by-state guides.

The Honest Downsides

A SPIA is irreversible: once income starts, you generally cannot get the lump sum back, so never annuitize money you may need for emergencies. Fixed payments also lose purchasing power to inflation. A COLA rider fixes that at the cost of a lower starting payment. And a life-only contract can pay "less than you put in" if you die early, which is exactly the risk the period-certain and cash-refund options exist to remove. Weigh both sides in Pros and Cons of Annuities.

Who Should Buy a SPIA?

The strongest fit is a retiree between roughly 60 and 80 who wants essential expenses guaranteed regardless of markets: cover the gap between Social Security and your actual fixed costs, and invest the rest for growth. It is equally sensible for someone whose employer offered a lump-sum pension buyout and wants to rebuild that pension privately, often at a better rate than the employer's annuity. Our guaranteed lifetime income guide shows how a SPIA compares with Social Security, a pension and an income rider.

How to Buy a SPIA (The Right Way)

Decide the income gap you need to cover, and work backwards to the premium. Our calculator does this in seconds.
Choose your payout option: life only, period certain, cash refund, or joint.
Compare quotes across carriers. On the same contract, the lowest of the 8 carriers in our October 2026 rate tables pays a 65-year-old man about 17% less than the best. This is the single highest-value step.
Check financial strength and your state guaranty limit. Stay with A-rated carriers, and split large premiums across insurers if needed.
Lock the quote. SPIA quotes are typically valid 7–14 days; rates move monthly.

Ready to see your number? Get a free personalized SPIA quote — no obligation, all 8 carriers compared at once.