Savings and investment are crucial to building a retirement nest egg for oneself. They ensure that your golden years remain comfortable and your lifestyle doesn’t undergo too much of a change. Annuities are financial vehicles that allow investors to create savings that secure their retired years and make them truly stress free. Typically annuities are long-term investments and investors begin to receive income payments from them after many years, usually close to retirement from their professional life. But the immediate annuities are quite distinct from the other categories of annuities. In case of immediate annuities the individual makes a lump sum investment and almost immediately begins to receive income from the annuity.

Immediate annuities are ideal for those who did not really plan for their retirement and wish to invest a large sum of money in order to get a regular income. More and more people wish to retire early from their careers and do the things that they are passionate about, and yet they wish to know that they will have a certain amount of money on a regular basis. Here is where immediate annuities come in. Immediate annuities assure investors a certain sum of money on a regular basis for a fixed period of time or for the investor’s lifetime. More than one investor can also hold an immediate annuity; that is it can be held jointly, though the rate of interest would be lower as it is decided according to the life expectancy of both partners.

It is important to understand that one shouldn’t invest all their savings into immediate annuities, as with inflation the income payments may not be enough for the investor. Instead it is recommended that only part of the savings be invested in immediate annuities and the rest in other annuities such as equity-index linked annuities, deferred annuities, etc. An annuity broker would be able to provide accurate information and advice regarding investment in annuities.