Neither your insurance company nor U.S.tax laws are going to make it easy for you to get out of an existing annuity contract if you want to. But you do have some options that might substantially improve your position.
Surrender charges Most annuities carry surrender charges.
The free-look period generally does not exceed 10 days. Make sure you get a receipt for the policy from the agent dated within the free-look window. If you are past the free-look period, you will have to check the policy to see how your surrender charges are imposed. The only rule of thumb you might rely on is that the higher the commission paid to the agent, the higher the surrender cost and longer the surrender period. If faced with a surrender charge, you might be inclined to hold the annuity until the charge expires.