One of the more dubious tasks retirees face is figuring out ways in which to ensure they have income to last throughout the span of their retirement. There is nothing worse than reaching the end of your life and learning that you no longer have sufficient funding to survive. The options at that point are often difficult to accept. Many retirees are finding that with a bit of financial planning they can take steps to circumvent this problem.

One such instrument that is frequently used for retirement planning purposes is the lifetime income annuity. This annuity contract is designed to be contingent on the life of one or more individuals, depending on how it is designed. Because the annuity tied to an individual’s life, this annuity is also called a life annuity.

Lifetime income annuities were created as a way to provide a reliable and continual stream of income to the beneficiaries of the account. The annuity is designed to continue payments for the duration of the covered person’s life. This provides income guarantees and ensures that the income payments outlive the individual and not the other way around.

The most common form of annuities used with these lifetime stipulations are fixed annuities. The fixed annuity provides a fixed stream of income payments that continue for as long as is contracted. Again, in the case of a lifetime annuity, this means that the contract will continue until the covered annuitant’s pass away.

Another popular variation of this type of annuity contract is a joint annuity. Rather than base the annuity on the life a single person, the contract can be designed to cover multiple people. The annuity can be created to terminate at either the first death of the two covered lives, or after the death of the surviving individual.