What Is A Life Insurance Annuity? 
That is an interesting question . I assume you ask because someone presented the idea to you . Annuities are a kind of insurance product and are sold / issued by life insurance companies . Annuities are either `` life certain '' or `` period certain '' . If it is ` life certain ' the annuity will pay out a specified amount per payment period for as long as the annuitant lives . If it is ` period certain ' it will pay out for the length of the determined period regardless if the annuitant lives longer or dies before the period ends . If the annuitant dies before the period ends their beneficiary will receive the balance of the payments . Another idea that could be expressed as a life insurance annuity is when the death benefit of a life insurance policy is set up to be annuitised to the beneficiary . That is the death benefit would be used to purchase an annuity for the beneficiary . 