Why do you need a lifetime income at retirement, a guaranteed stream of money that will last as long as you live? Here's why:

1. You very well may live a long time after you retire. Look at life expectancies in the following chart, based on attained age.
   
   

   Age Last Birthday	Life Expectancy to age
   	Male	Female
   45	33 years to age 78	37 years to age 82
   50	29 years to age 79	32 years to age 82
   55	24 years to age 79	28 years to age 83
   60	20 years to age 80	24 years to age 84
   65	16 years to age 81	20 years to age 85
   70	13 years to age 83	16 years to age 86
   75	10 years to age 85	13 years to age 88
   80	7 years to age 87	10 years to age 90
   85	5 years to age 90	7 years to age 92
   90	4 years to age 94	5 years to age 95
   95	3 years to age 98	4 years to age 99
   100	2 years to age 102	3 years to age 103
   Source: Commissioners 2001 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table. Ages rounded to next highest year.

   
   
   
2. This is a fairly new problem. How your parents and grandparents faced retirement is not relevant to the situation today. In the last century, life expectancies skyrocketed nearly 30 years. In the past, with briefer life expectancies, retirement – when people reached it at all – was very often a short-lived affair. Today, your retirement income may need to last decades, not just a few years.
   
   

   The Year You Were Born	Life Expectancy at birth
   	Male	Female
   1900	46.3 years	48.3 years
   1910	48.4 years	51.8 years
   1920	53.6 years	54.6 years
   1930	58.1 years	61.6 years
   1940	60.8 years	65.2 years
   1950	65.6 years	71.1 years
   1960	66.6 years	73.1 years
   1970	67.1 years	74.7 years
   1975	68.8 years	76.6 years
   1980	70.0 years	77.5 years
   1990	71.8 years	78.8 years
   2001	74.4 years	79.8 years
   Source: National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

   
   
   
3. There are way too few guarantees. It is great to project out a few decades into a relaxed, comfortable, financially secure retirement. It may well be that way. However, there are risks. Among them are unanticipated health problems. A long and debilitating illness can shatter what looked like a stable retirement nest egg faster than Humpty Dumpty took a fall…and with the same results. Plus, markets not only rise, but they can fall as well. In the downturn of 2000, many retirees watched as their retirement assets declined by 50 percent or more. And these are just two of the risks the future may hold. In short, there are too many uncertainties and too few guarantees.

These are just three reasons – but they are major ones – why you need a guaranteed lifetime income. Is it possible? Are there guarantees? The answer is yes.

Figures quoted are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of past or future results of any specific financial product.

Material discussed is meant for general illustration and/or informational purposes only. Please note that individual situations can vary. Therefore, the information should be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional guidance.

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