The Best Annuity Depends on the Job You Need It to Do

"Best annuity" is the wrong question. The right question is best annuity for what. A 62-year-old who wants to delay Social Security to 70 needs a totally different product than a 70-year-old looking to defer required minimum distributions, and both need something different than a couple who wants joint lifetime income that does not stop when one spouse dies. This guide breaks the decision down into the five real retirement use cases we see most often at My Annuity Store, and names the specific top pick for each, with current 2026 rates and a $100,000 example so you can see exactly what the income looks like.

How We Picked the Best Annuities for Each Goal

We compare 90+ top annuity companies through our independent broker platform. For this guide, every product had to clear three filters: an A- or better financial strength rating from AM Best, current 2026 pricing competitive within the top decile of its category, and contract terms a fiduciary would recommend without flinching. We do not get paid to feature specific carriers. The picks below are the products we actually quote and place for clients with these exact retirement goals. Rate data is pulled from AnnuityRateWatch for MYGAs, CANNEX for SPIAs, and direct carrier illustrations for income riders.

Best Annuities for Retirement at a Glance

Best Annuity for an Early Retirement Social Security Bridge

If you retire at 62 but want to wait until 67 or 70 to claim Social Security, you have a problem and an opportunity. Every year you delay benefits past full retirement age, your monthly check grows about 8%. But you still need to eat, pay the mortgage, and cover health insurance during that gap. This is what a Social Security bridge annuity solves. The right product here is a 5-year period-certain SPIA, also called a 5-year fixed-period income annuity. You hand the insurance company a lump sum, and it pays you a check every month for exactly 60 months, then stops. By the time the payments end, your Social Security has grown to its maximum and takes over.

$100,000 Example: 5-Year SPIA Bridge

• Premium: $100,000
• Monthly income: $1,849
• Total payments over 5 years: $110,940
• Effective yield: roughly 4.2% net of return of principal

That is more than three times what a 5-year CD ladder pays out as income, because a SPIA returns both interest and principal in each check. CDs only pay interest. The trade-off is simple: at the end of the 5 years, you have nothing left from the SPIA, and you have your principal back from the CD. But by then, your Social Security is paying significantly more than the CD interest ever did, for the rest of your life. For deeper math on this strategy, see our Best Annuities for a Social Security Bridge guide and the annuity bridge strategy walkthrough. Run your own numbers in our immediate annuity calculator.

Best Annuity for Joint Lifetime Income (Couples)

For a married couple, the worst-case retirement scenario is not running out of money at 80. It is running out at 90, after one spouse has already passed and the survivor is alone. A joint lifetime income annuity removes that risk by guaranteeing income for as long as either spouse is alive. The top pick here is the Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus fixed indexed annuity with the Athene Ascent Income Rider, configured for joint payouts. Athene is one of the largest fixed annuity carriers in the United States, rated A+ by AM Best, and the Ascent Pro 10 Bonus is the contract that consistently produces the best joint income figures in our independent comparisons across 90+ top annuity companies.

$100,000 Joint Life Example: M65 / F63, Income Starts at 70

• Premium: $100,000
• 10% premium bonus added to account value at issue (vesting over 10 years)
• 20% income base bonus, plus 10% simple interest roll-up for years 1 through 20
• Income base at age 70 (year 6): $170,000
• Joint lifetime withdrawal rate at 70: 6.90%
• Joint annual income starting at 70: $11,730 for both lives
• Income continues until both spouses pass, even if account value reaches zero
• Account value remains accessible; no annuitization required
• Rider charge: 1.00% of benefit base annually
• 10% annual free withdrawal on top of income
• Enhanced income benefit pays 1.5x if either spouse cannot perform 2 of 6 activities of daily living (60-month benefit period)

The 5-year deferral is what makes this work. Waiting from 65 to 70 grows the income base from $120,000 to $170,000 through the simple interest roll-up, and the withdrawal percentage steps up from 6.15% to 6.90% as the younger annuitant ages. The combined effect: $11,730 a year instead of $7,380 if income started at issue. That is a 59% larger paycheck for life, just by waiting five years. The income never decreases when one spouse dies, and it never stops as long as either spouse is alive. A couple who lives to 95 and 93 collects $293,250 in lifetime income on a $100,000 deposit. Any remaining account value passes to heirs. The contract earns interest credits tied to the S&P 500 with a 5.5% annual cap and a 0% floor. In a flat or down market year, the account simply does not grow. It cannot lose value to market declines. Across the most recent 10-year period, the strategy credited 4.38% annualized. For full details, see our Athene Ascent Pro 10 review, the Athene annuity company profile, or model income rider scenarios in our income rider calculator.

Best Annuity If You Don't Want to Spend Your Principal

Plenty of retirees in their 60s and 70s are not income-poor. They have $500,000 to $1.5 million in savings, Social Security covers their fixed costs, and what they actually want is a place to park money where it earns a guaranteed rate, kicks off interest income they can spend, and leaves the principal intact for heirs. For that, nothing beats a multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA). A MYGA works like a CD with three advantages: rates are typically 100 to 200 basis points higher than comparable bank CDs, interest grows tax-deferred until withdrawn, and the entire principal is guaranteed by an A-rated insurer plus state guaranty associations.

$250,000 Example: 5-Year MYGA at 5.40%

• Annual interest: $13,500
• Principal at end of year 5: $250,000 (untouched)
• Total interest over 5 years (taken as income): $67,500
• State guaranty coverage: $250,000 in most states

If you want zero exposure to issuer risk, split a $500,000 deposit across two A-rated carriers so each is at or below your state's guaranty limit. Most clients in this category never touch the principal, take the interest as quarterly distributions, and roll the contract at maturity into the next best rate. To see today's top picks, check our live MYGA rate table updated daily across 90+ top annuity companies.

Best Annuity for Market Upside With Downside Protection

If you remember 2008, the appeal of an annuity that captures S&P 500 gains but never loses money to a market crash is obvious. That is what a fixed index annuity (FIA) without an income rider delivers. The trade-off compared to direct stock ownership is real: you give up dividends and you cap your upside, in exchange for a hard 0% floor. The top pick for pure accumulation, where you do not need lifetime income from the contract, is the Allianz Benefit Control Annuity. Allianz is one of the largest annuity carriers in the United States, rated A+ by AM Best, and Benefit Control offers some of the most competitive participation rates in the industry on uncapped index strategies.

How the Math Works

• If the S&P 500 gains 20% in a year and your participation rate is 50%, you get a 10% credit
• If the S&P 500 loses 30% in a year, you get 0%, not -30%
• Credits are locked in at the end of each crediting period and cannot be lost in future years
• No annual rider fee on the pure accumulation version

Over the past 20 years, this design has typically returned 4% to 6% annualized, with no negative years. That is bond-like volatility with mid-single-digit equity-adjacent returns, which is exactly what most retirees actually want from the conservative slice of their portfolio. For comparisons across the FIA category, see our FIA vs RILA and FIA vs variable annuity breakdowns.

Best Annuity to Defer Required Minimum Distributions (QLAC)

Once you turn 73, the IRS forces you to start taking required minimum distributions from your traditional IRA and 401(k). For retirees with seven-figure IRA balances, those forced withdrawals can push you into a higher tax bracket and bump up Medicare IRMAA surcharges. A Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract (QLAC) is the IRS-blessed workaround. You can move up to $210,000 of IRA money into a QLAC in 2026 (the limit is indexed annually). That money is exempt from RMD calculations, and you defer the income until as late as age 85. When the income finally turns on, it pays for the rest of your life, with payouts that get bigger the longer you defer.

$100,000 QLAC Payouts in May 2026

Life-only QLAC payouts on $100,000 premium for a 60-year-old, May 2026. Source: Blueprint Income.

The math gets remarkable at longer deferrals. A 60-year-old male who puts $100,000 in a MassMutual QLAC and waits 20 years collects $65,542 a year for life starting at 80. By age 90, total payments equal $655,420, more than 6.5 times the original premium. The IRS treats this as a permitted form of longevity insurance, exactly the use case Congress intended when it created QLACs in 2014 and expanded the limit under SECURE Act 2.0. Read more in our QLAC explainer and the IRS RMD rules.

How to Decide Which Annuity Fits Your Retirement

If the quiz at the top did not give you a clear answer, work through these three questions in order:

1. When do you need the money? Now means SPIA. In 5 to 15 years means MYGA, FIA, or QLAC. After 73 with RMD pressure means QLAC.
2. Single or joint? If you are married and want both lives covered, your shortlist narrows to joint SPIAs, joint income riders on FIAs, or joint-life QLACs. Single-life products pay more per dollar but stop at one death.
3. Do you need access to principal? If yes, MYGA or FIA. If you are willing to give up principal in exchange for a higher monthly check, SPIA.

Annuities to Avoid in 2026

Not every annuity belongs in a retirement plan. Three categories to skip outright:

• Variable annuities with M&E fees above 1.5% combined with rider charges above 1.25%. Total fee drag of 2.75% to 3.25% per year is hard to overcome, and the 2022 bear market exposed how fragile some of the income-base guarantees actually are.
• Anything from a B-rated or unrated carrier. Reach for yield by going down the credit-quality ladder is exactly how retirees lost money in the 1990s with Executive Life and again in 2008 with smaller carriers. Stick to A- or better from AM Best.
• Deferred annuities sold to buyers over 80 with surrender periods longer than 5 years. If a producer is putting an 82-year-old into a 10-year surrender contract, that is a suitability violation. Walk away.

Common Annuity Mistakes Retirees Make

• Putting too much in one product. Most clients should not have more than 30 to 50% of liquid retirement assets in annuities. The rest should stay in market-based investments for growth and flexibility.
• Annuitizing when you do not have to. Modern income riders give you guaranteed lifetime income without ever giving up your account value. Annuitization (true annuitization) is rarely the right answer outside of SPIA situations.
• Ignoring tax location. Putting a tax-deferred annuity inside a traditional IRA gives you no extra tax benefit and adds fees. Annuities work best in non-qualified money or in a deliberate QLAC strategy.
• Buying from one carrier. Always compare at least three carriers before signing. Rates and rider terms vary widely, and a 0.50% difference on a 10-year MYGA is worth $5,000+ on a $100,000 deposit.
• Forgetting beneficiaries. Update beneficiaries every time there is a major life event. An annuity passes outside probate, but only if the beneficiary form is current.

Sources & Citations

• AM Best for carrier financial strength ratings
• IRS Required Minimum Distribution rules and SECURE Act 2.0 QLAC limits
• LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute for industry sales and product trends
• NAIC for state guaranty association coverage
• Blueprint Income for current QLAC payout benchmarks
• Athene Ascent Pro 10 Bonus illustration prepared April 28, 2026 for Male 65 / Female 63 joint, $100,000 premium, AZ, income activation age 70