Top Paying Annuities
See how annuity rates and bonuses work. Avoid mistakes and find the right annuity for you.
Today's rates
These are the best rates carriers have filed with the states, updated regularly.
Locks in a fixed rate of return without market risk. If the money is left alone, the amount of interest you receive compounds, but the rate does not change for the duration of the term.
| Company Rating | 3 Years | 5 Years | 7 Years | 10 Years | Inquire about a rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A++ | 5.45% | 5.85% | 5.90% | 5.90% | Inquire — A++ rated — Fixed Rate Annuities (MYGA) |
| A+ | 5.80% | 6.00% | 5.95% | 4.80% | Inquire — A+ rated — Fixed Rate Annuities (MYGA) |
| A | 5.70% | 6.00% | 6.20% | 6.35% | Inquire — A rated — Fixed Rate Annuities (MYGA) |
| A- | 5.80% | 6.45% | 6.65% | 6.00% | Inquire — A- rated — Fixed Rate Annuities (MYGA) |
| B++ | 6.10% | 6.25% | 6.20% | 6.30% | Inquire — B++ rated — Fixed Rate Annuities (MYGA) |
| B+ | 6.05% | 6.40% | 6.30% | 6.30% | Inquire — B+ rated — Fixed Rate Annuities (MYGA) |
| B | 4.75% | 4.95% | 4.95% | — | Inquire — B rated — Fixed Rate Annuities (MYGA) |
| B- | 6.50% | 7.00% | 5.75% | 5.75% | Inquire — B- rated — Fixed Rate Annuities (MYGA) |
These annuities can pay you income for life, protected from market risk, especially when you add the much desired Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit rider (GLWB). The GLWB adds a separate contractual guarantee for guaranteed fixed income for life at income rates typically double that of quality bonds. It is optional--you are not required to add the rider. But it gives you a guarantee similar to a pension even if you live long enough to exhaust the principal. Meanwhile, your principal may grow according to a market index with no market losses. Every penny you don't spend goes to your heirs. Below are current INCOME Rates on FIA's with GLWBs. Rates are subject to change until you lock them in.
| Company Rating | Defer 3 Years | Defer 5 Years | Defer 7 Years | Defer 10 Years | Inquire about a rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A++ | 9.08% | 10.88% | 12.39% | 14.73% | Inquire — A++ rated — Fixed Index Annuities (FIA) |
| A+ | 9.95% | 11.90% | 14.37% | 19.12% | Inquire — A+ rated — Fixed Index Annuities (FIA) |
| A | 11.68% | 13.34% | 15.00% | 19.38% | Inquire — A rated — Fixed Index Annuities (FIA) |
| A- | 10.56% | 11.51% | 13.93% | 19.69% | Inquire — A- rated — Fixed Index Annuities (FIA) |
| B++ | 12.63% | 14.62% | 15.75% | 17.84% | Inquire — B++ rated — Fixed Index Annuities (FIA) |
| B | 6.59% | 7.74% | 9.30% | 11.45% | Inquire — B rated — Fixed Index Annuities (FIA) |
Rates as of October 9th, 2026. The top rate available at each term and each deferral period, before tax. The income rate is the yearly income as a share of what you put in, at age 60. What you are actually offered depends on the product, the carrier, your state, your age and carrier approval. Rates change without notice. Run your own numbers →
Calculate Payouts
A percentage is not a paycheck. Put in your age and your amount, and see the monthly income these rates would pay you.
YOUR ANNUITY HAS A JOB
A rate only means something once you know what the money is for. Most of it is doing one of four jobs, and the job is what decides which kind of annuity fits.
Retirement is the longest unpaid vacation of your life. You must replace your income somehow. The right kind of annuity can be used to create a retirement paycheck that you can never outlive.
Money with time on its side does not need to pay you yet. However, a bad year close to or in retirement can change your financial situation forever. Annuities can be used to grow future income without market risk.
Retirement isn't about scraping by, it's about living the life of your dreams. You've earned it from years of hard work. If your income is a constant, you can spend without worrying about your statements.
A lot of people look to annuities to make sure their spouse is covered when they die. They don't want to force the one they love to make consequential financial decisions when they're 80 or 90 years old.
The whole family, at a glance
Every annuity is one of these four. What separates them is what happens to your money when the market falls, and what it costs you to get at it.
DIAs (Deferred Income Annuities) and QLACs in 401(k)s are immediate annuities with a deferral feature.
Goes down with the market
Fees run 2% to 4% a year, plus a surrender charge.
Does not go down with the market
Does not go down with the market
Pros and cons of each type
The four contracts you will actually be offered, and what each one costs you.
Income only
This is the original type of annuity going back to Roman Times. You give the insurance company your principal, and they pay you an income for 5–20 years or for life.
Market risk + annual fees
A variable annuity puts your money into market subaccounts that look and behave like mutual funds. There is no cap on the upside, and there is no floor under the downside either. If the market falls, your account value falls with it.
What separates a variable annuity from every other contract on this page is the annual fee. Mortality and expense charges, administrative charges, subaccount fees and any riders typically total 2% to 4% every year, in good years and bad. Over a twenty-year retirement that compounds into real money.
No annual fee
Fixed-rate annuities are straightforward and simple. Currently, rates on the top-ranked MYGAs run between 5% and just under 6%, locked in and guaranteed for 3 to 10 years. Longer terms tend to pay higher interest.
Rates quoted on this page are illustrative of the market at the time of writing and change frequently. Ask for current figures before making any decision.
Income + principal protection
This type of annuity has gained significant popularity for IRA rollovers due to the fact that most people want to continue to own their principal AND receive income for life.
FIAs can be used for income replacement or pure accumulation. When used for accumulation, growth is linked to an index, but with no risk of loss. To offset the cost of providing principal protection, the insurance company must mitigate your rate of growth with a “cap” or a “participation rate.” They provide room for growth without the annual fees a variable annuity charges.
It is a grade for whether the insurer can still pay you decades from now. The letters on these tables come from AM Best, which has graded insurance companies for more than a hundred years. The grade says nothing about how much the annuity pays. It says whether the company behind the promise is built to keep it.
A company with no grade is not a weak company. It is one AM Best has not rated, and an ungraded carrier has no honest place on a ladder of grades, so those products are left off these tables.
Four things, weighed together: how much the company holds against what it owes, whether it earns money year after year, how steady its business is, and how carefully it handles risk. AM Best reviews the grade at least once a year, so a company can move up or down. Standard & Poor's and Moody's grade insurers too, and an A from one is not the same as an A from another.
A rating is an outside opinion on whether an insurer can still pay you in thirty years. Weaker companies often offer more, because a higher number is how they compete for your money. Stronger ones can offer less and still fill their books. The tables above show both, so you can see what strength costs before you decide.
It depends on the term, the company, and what the money is for. A five-year fixed rate near the top of the table today is around 6%. Anything far above the rest of the market usually has something attached: a longer lock, a weaker carrier, or a bonus that takes years to earn.
An interest rate grows the money. An income rate turns it into a paycheck. Six percent interest on $100,000 grows the balance. A 14% income rate pays $14,000 a year for life once income starts, and it keeps paying after the account behind it is empty.
It is real, and it is not free. A bonus is usually added to the income side of the contract rather than to the money you could walk away with, and the company pays for it somewhere else: a lower cap, or a longer surrender period. A bonus is worth having. It is worth reading first.
These are the best rates carriers have filed with the states, worked out for a 62-year-old putting in $100,000. Your age, your state, the amount and the carrier's approval all move the number, and some products are not sold in every state. Treat the tables as where the conversation starts.
Something has to be chosen, and doing nothing is one of the choices. Many contracts roll into whatever rate applies that year unless you say otherwise, and the renewal rate is rarely the one that won the table. You can also move the money to another annuity, take it out, or turn on income.
Most contracts let you take out a set amount each year, often ten percent, with no charge. Past that a surrender charge applies, and it falls each year until it disappears. An annuity is for money you will not need all at once, which is why the rest of the plan matters as much as this page does.
Fixed and indexed annuities do not lose value when the market falls. The promise behind them is the insurer's own reserves, and every state runs a guaranty association that covers a limited amount if a company fails. That is the whole reason the rating column is on these tables.
That is exactly what the clarity call is for. Fifteen minutes, no cost, no pitch.