Those who are retired or expect to retire soon need a retirement plan in place to ensure their basic expenses are covered in retirement. That's one reason why annuities have soared in popularity. In fact, they are so attractive to investors that total annuity sales were $113.5 billion in the first quarter of 2024. That's 21% above prior year results and just shy of the quarterly sales record set in the fourth quarter 2023, according to preliminary results from LIMRA’s U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey,
While annuities are enjoying a surge of popularity, the concept of annuities dates back to early Rome, when citizens would make a lump-sum payment on a contract called an annua in exchange for income payments received once a year for the rest of their lives.
