How Do Annuities Pay Out? 
It depends on which tax deferred annuity you choose and their crediting methods : interest rate crediting , indexed crediting and separate sub account crediting . Historical returns are no guarantee of future performance , but each crediting method over long periods of time has made money . Keep in mind that indexed annuities may credited zero and variable annuities separate sub accounts can lose money like any security product . You can also select distribution options like 10 or 20 years certain , even life only . 