Protect your future with guaranteed income for the rest of the your life. Annuities are contractually-executed, relatively low-risk investment products; the insured (usually, an individual) pays a life insurance company a lump-sum premium at the start of the contract. That money is to be paid back to the insured in fixed, incremental amounts, over some future time period (predetermined by the insured). The insurer invests the premium; the resulting profit/return on investment fund the payments received by the insured, and, compensate the insurer.