What Exactly Are Annuities? 
Annuities is an excellent vehicle for savings . You can `` dollar cost `` average into a Tax Shelter Annuity which is a retirement planning instrument for employees with 501C organizations or if you have monies in Certificate of Deposit and it is fully taxable you can switch the dollars into an annuity and stop the taxation until you start taking the money out which can be delayed until 70 1/2 . An annuity is a great way to assure that you will never outlive your income as you take monthly payments from the value of the annuity . There are `` fixed annuities '' , `` indexed annuities-which are linked to an index , or you can even have a `` variable annuity that is tied directly to the performance of the stock market . If you work for a 501C organization and do have a tax shelter annuity you need to find a good financial planner . 