Americans With Annuities Want More Annuities: Survey

Americans who already own annuities, or other products that provide a guaranteed source of lifetime income, love the idea of buying more annuities.

The American Council of Life Insurers came up with data on how familiarity with annuities breeds love for annuities when it sponsored a recent survey of 1,003 U.S. retirement savers ages 45 through 65.

About 26% of the survey participants said they already owned annuities, and 86% of the survey participants who owned annuities said they were somewhat or very interested in buying more.

Roughly 73% of all of the participants, 76% of the participants with pension plans and 67% of the participants without annuities said they wanted annuities.

What It Means

Consumers who already have a guaranteed source of retirement income might be better annuity prospects than consumers who have no guaranteed source of retirement income other than Social Security.

The Survey

The ACLI is a Washington-based group for life insurers.

When it conducted the survey, it avoided triggering any hostility toward the term “annuity” by referring to an annuity as a “guaranteed lifetime income product that pays out like a pension by providing periodic payments during retirement.”

The Backdrop

The ACLI sponsored the survey at a time when prices are rising and regulators in Washington and state capitals are talking about whether to impose annuity sales standards that would limit use of traditional commission-based sales rep compensation arrangements.

Inflation was a worry for 85% of the survey participants, and about 58% of the participants said they would work with financial professionals on retirement planning or might do so. Only 15% said they preferred to work with retirement planners with a $100,000 investment minimum.