Read before you decide.

Guides

• How a fixed annuity actually works — Stated rates, surrender charges, market value adjustments, and what the word “guaranteed” actually refers to inside an annuity contract.
• Your Medicare timeline, month by month — Enrollment windows, the birthday-on-the-first rule, the Part B premium, and what changes each fall.
• Three ways to draw income in retirement — A rule of thumb, a bond ladder, and insurer-backed income — what each depends on.
• RMDs after the SECURE Act 2.0 — Starting ages, which accounts can be combined, the first-year deadline, and the current penalty rules.
• MYGA vs CD: How the Two Actually Differ — Both pay a stated rate for a set term. The differences that matter are who stands behind the money, how you get out early, and when the interest is taxed.
• Rolling a 401(k) Into an Annuity: What to Weigh — An annuity is one of several things you can do with an old 401(k). Here is how the options compare and what to check before moving anything.
• How Annuity Income Riders Work — An income rider is an optional contract feature that defines future withdrawals. Understanding it starts with the difference between two numbers.
• What Happens to an Annuity When the Owner Dies? — There is no single answer. What happens depends on the contract, how it is owned, who is named, and whether the money is qualified.
• How a Market Value Adjustment Works — An MVA adjusts what you receive if you take money out early. Depending on how rates have moved, it can work against you or in your favor.

Plain-language glossary

• Surrender period — The period during which withdrawing more than a contract’s free-withdrawal amount can trigger a surrender charge.
• Participation rate — The portion of an index’s movement that a fixed indexed annuity credits for a crediting period, under the contract’s crediting method.
• MAPD vs Medigap — Two ways to structure Medicare coverage: a private Medicare Advantage plan, or Original Medicare plus a Medigap policy.
• 1035 exchange — A direct exchange of one insurance or annuity contract for another that, when the requirements are met, is not currently taxable.
• RMD — Required minimum distribution — the amount that generally must be withdrawn each year from most tax-deferred retirement accounts once the applicable age is reached.

Educational information only. This page is not individualized insurance, investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy or replace any product.