What Kind Of Annuities Are There? 
That is a great question ! There are a lot ! Simply put , there are two categories of annuities . One you plunk down your cash , and it immediately begins paying out your monthly payments , These are called `` immediate annuities '' . The other type takes your cash , and holds it , or `` defers '' the payments for a number of years before paying those monthly payouts . These are called `` deferred annuities '' . There are several different types of these , but again very simply , there are `` fixed annuities '' , that pay a set interest rate , there are `` indexed annuities '' , that pay interest rates that are based on the movements of a market , like the S&P 500 , or the Dow Jones . There are also `` variable annuities '' , that pay according to how well the investments within the annuity did -LRB- or did n't -RRB- do . That is a basic look at the types of annuities , I hope that helped . Please feel free to drop me a line if you 'd like more details , ok ? Thanks for asking ! 