5 Best Annuity Companies of April 2024

Choosing the right annuity provider is crucial for your retirement planning. Explore your options for the best annuity companies and start investing wisely today.

Looking to diversify your retirement savings? An annuity is a smart way of doing that and can provide benefits for life with tax advantages now. Find the best annuity companies and an explanation of what this financial tool is and how to use it.

Quick Look: Best Annuity Companies

• Best for Shopping Multiple Providers: Leverage Planning
• Best for Diversity of Options: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.
• Best for Customer Service: MassMutual
• Best for Fixed-Index Annuities: Allianz
• Best for Straightforward Annuities: Prudential Financial Inc.

Best Annuity Companies

Annuities come in a variety of forms including fixed annuities, indexed annuities and immediate annuities. Companies that offer a variety of annuity types and can quote you for each will provide you with the greatest options and insights into planning for your future. Here’s a look at the best annuities.

1. Best for Shopping Multiple Providers: Leverage Planning

Leverage Planning allows you to review annuity options from various companies. You can see how various structures work and might apply to your specific situation. Shopping multiple companies at once helps you get the best price and coverage. Consumers can save hours on researching various products thanks to expert insights and counseling from the Leverage team.

Why Benzinga picked it: Leverage provides a concierge service for purchasing annuities and long-term care insurance to help quote multiple plans and find you the best one.

2. Best for Diversity of Options: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.

Whether you’re looking for a more conservative or aggressive annuity product, you’ll find it with Nationwide. Choose from one of 23 annuity products that offer investments in stocks, bonds or money market funds. The company also offers immediate annuities, and you can include options for cost-of-living adjustments. Nationwide is licensed in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

One Redditor found that Nationwide offers low premium payments to secure strong retirement income streams. Here’s what they had to say.

“We use Nationwide Advisory and its Monument Advisor products. They are a low cost ($20/m flat) for the client but it doesn’t pay commission for you. They have worked out really well for us in the VA space.”

Why Benzinga picked it: With a wide range of annuity options, Nationwide can serve customers in need of all types of investments.

3. Best for Customer Service: MassMutual

As far as insurance companies go, MassMutual has one of the best customer service ratings with a low customer-complaint ratio. It also has a wide product offering for annuities, including fixed, fixed index, variable and immediate. No matter where you live in the U.S., you can purchase an annuity from the company.

Why Benzinga picked it: The full product lineup and high customer satisfaction rating make MassMutual an attractive option.

4. Best for Fixed-Index Annuities: Allianz

Allianz focuses its annuity products on fixed-index options. The company has an A+ rating, meaning it is financially strong and provides excellent customer service. While it only offers fixed-index products, it has varying options with different goals and benefits to meet your needs.

Why Benzinga picked it: Invest in the market index with protections against investment losses with a fixed-index annuity from a company with strong financials and low customer complaints.

5. Best for Straightforward Annuities: Prudential Financial Inc.

If you’re new to the space and not entirely sure what annuities might work best for you, Prudential might be a good place to turn. Its straightforward products make investing simple. It has a product called FlexGuard that allows you to place your funds in an indexed variable annuity. That way you can place your funds in a broad stock market index with minimal risk and predictable growth. It also offers calculators where you input information about your financials and see how your annuity will grow and pay out for planning purposes.

Why Benzinga picked it: Products from Prudential are user-friendly for those getting started with annuities who need to know what their income will look like from the product.

What Are Annuities?

An annuity is a type of insurance product. It offers fixed income, most often used in retirement to supplement traditional retirement income. 

You pay premiums that go into your annuity fund. Those funds get invested based on the type of annuity you have. Over time, the funds grow as you pay your premiums and the investments pay off. Then you receive those funds paid out over many months. You can also take it as a lump sum in some cases depending on the type of product you chose and its rules.

Some annuity contracts are simple while others are quite complex. Talk with a financial advisor about how to use this tool to supplement retirement income or ensure your retirement savings don’t run out.

One Redditor had this to say about the value of an annuity in financial planning:

“They help with longevity risk. They also can pay well without being in some market that goes up and down and what like … sideways. Economists love them and that is not a joke.”

Types of Annuities

As you learn more about annuities, you’ll find there are many types. Each type provides unique benefits and offers a financial solution for varying scenarios. Here’s a look at the various options.

Immediate Fixed-income Annuities

These annuities have a set interest rate. That means you pay premiums in exchange for a specific value within a set period. Some contracts offer payouts for the rest of your life while others specify the payment period. You’ll often start getting payments from this annuity after you pay the deposit.

Deferred Income Annuities

This is another type of fixed annuity. It starts with paying a lump sum and then offers a stream of income. With this annuity type, you won’t get income until you complete the accumulation period. During the accumulation period, your annuity will grow to help make it more valuable once you start taking payments.

Variable Annuities

This is a more advanced type of annuity and is often viewed less as an insurance product and more as an investment. You might also encounter fees with this annuity type, which could reduce your income from the product. It is a riskier form of annuity but can also ensure a higher payout when used strategically because you can select where your funds are invested.

Indexed Annuities

Bring together the benefits of variable and fixed annuities. You’ll get guaranteed base income but could get even greater income based on how the index performs. It offers some protection from major market drops but your benefit will be reduced if the market isn’t doing well.

Why Choose an Annuity for Retirement?

Annuities offer many benefits when planning for retirement. Here’s a look at some reasons you might use this financial tool as you look to retire.

• Guaranteed income: Many annuity contracts offer payments for life. Just ensure you’re choosing a financially stable company that will be around for your lifetime.
• Customizable: Each buyer has different needs. You can match the annuity to meet those needs, such as providing a death benefit for survivors.
• Money management tools: You won’t have to worry as much about managing the funds on your own thanks to portfolio rebalancing and other tools the company provides to help ensure your benefit as outlined in the contract.

How to Choose the Right Annuity Company

Many annuity products and companies that provide those products are available. So how can you find the right one based on your needs? Here’s how to review your options and select the best one based on your needs.

• Compare products from multiple companies to see how your payments will vary.
• Read all disclosure information to make sure you know how the annuity works and any risks it might carry.
• Ask a company representative questions to learn more about the product and its features.
• Review the company’s financial ratings to see how stable it is and how strong its future is since you’re looking into a long-term product.
• Review how much you’ll be withdrawing monthly to see whether this meets your financial goals.

Diversify Retirement Income with an Annuity

Annuities are somewhat complex. However, they can provide additional retirement income to help diversify your savings and gain reliable, stable income with strong returns on the premiums you pay. Talk to your financial advisor about whether an annuity might be a smart retirement investment for you.

Frequently Asked Questions