Income annuities (SPIAs)

You hand a carrier a lump sum; it pays you a fixed amount every month for as long as you live. As of July 23, 2026, $100,000 buys as much as $702 a month at age 70.

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The directory

Every SPIA we track, ranked

Compare what each carrier pays on the same $100,000 — single life with cash refund, at age 70. Every row opens that carrier’s full payout page.

# Carrier & product AM Best $/mo · male $/mo · female Joint
1 Athene Athene Athene Activate SPIA A+ $702 $674 ✓ ↓
2 Nationwide Nationwide Income Promise Select A+ $699 $667 ✓ ↓
3 Guardian Insurance Guardian Insurance Guaranteed Income Annuity III A++ $691 $667 ✓ ↓
4 Penn Mutual Penn Mutual Single Premium Immediate Annuity A+ $687 $666 ✓ ↓
5 New York Life New York Life Guaranteed Period Income Annuity II A++ $687 $657 ✓ —
6 Integrity Life Integrity Life IncomeSource Single Premium Immediate Annuity A+ $684 $664 ✓ —
7 American National American National Palladium Single Premium Immediate Annuity A $673 $652 — —
8 TruStage TruStage Single Premium Immediate Annuity A $673 $646 ✓ —
9 Minnesota Life Minnesota Life Income Today! 2.0 A+ $670 $640 ✓ —
10 Prudential Prudential Immediate Income Annuity A+ $669 $646 ✓ ↓
11 Corebridge (AIG) Corebridge (AIG) American Pathway NY Immediate Annuity A $660 $635 ✓ ↓
12 Global Atlantic Global Atlantic ForeCertain Income Annuity (SPIA) A $659 $632 ✓ —
13 Midland Midland MNL Direct Income A+ $657 $566 — ↓
14 North American North American NAC Income SPIA A+ $657 $566 — ↓
15 Symetra Symetra Symetra Advantage Income A $652 $626 ✓ ↓
16 GBU Life GBU Life Future Flex SPIA A- $642 $621 ✓ —
17 Jackson Jackson Immediate Annuity A $641 $616 — ↓
18 MassMutual MassMutual RetireEase SPIA A++ $637 $610 ✓ ↓
19 USAA USAA Protected Retirement Income Annuity A++ $624 $604 ✓ ↓
20 Protective Protective ProPayer Income Annuity A+ $619 $595 ✓ ↓
21 Lincoln Financial Lincoln Financial Lincoln Deferred Income Solutions Annuity (SPIA) A $594 $570 ✓ —
22 Brighthouse (MetLife) Brighthouse (MetLife) Income Annuity A $577 $563 ✓ ↓

Monthly income per $100,000, single life with cash refund, non-qualified money, as of July 23, 2026. These payouts move with interest rates — the quoter shows the firm figure for your exact age and amount.

How a SPIA works

A paycheck you cannot outlive

A single-premium immediate annuity is the plainest annuity there is: money in, a fixed check out, every month, for the rest of your life. Four things are worth understanding before you buy.

  • The paycheck

    Income, not an investment

    You are buying a monthly amount you can plan around, not a balance you watch. Once it starts, the check arrives whether markets rise or fall and whether you live to 75 or 105.

  • If you die early

    Cash refund is the default

    Every payout on this page assumes a cash refund. If you die before the checks add up to what you paid in, your heirs receive the difference — so the money is not lost to the insurer.

  • What sets the number

    Age, gender, and rates

    The older you are when you start, the higher the monthly check, because it is expected to run for fewer years. Prevailing interest rates on the day you lock move it too.

  • The trade-off

    You give up the lump sum

    Once the premium is annuitized you cannot take it back as a lump sum. That is the deal, and it is the reason a SPIA can pay more each month than a bond or a CD on the same money.

Payouts by age

Waiting raises the check

See the highest monthly income $100,000 buys at each age — the same lump sum pays a larger check the later you start.

Age you start Top monthly income · $100,000
60 $600 /mo
65 $643 /mo
70 $702 /mo
75 $787 /mo
80 $906 /mo
85 $1,092 /mo

Highest monthly income per $100,000 across the carriers we track, single life with cash refund, as of July 23, 2026. Women’s payouts run a little lower at each age, since the checks are expected to last longer.

Taxes, in one paragraph

Most of the check is your own money coming back

Take the top payout above. At 70, $100,000 buys about $702 a month, and only about $254 of each check is taxable income. The remaining $448 is your own principal being handed back to you, so it is not taxed again. That split is what the “exclusion ratio” means, and it holds until you have received all your principal back. This is for non-qualified, after-tax money; an annuity bought inside an IRA is taxed differently, because none of that money has been taxed yet.

How SPIA income is taxed →

Read before you buy

The parts worth getting right

Seven plain-English guides on the decisions a SPIA turns on — how the payout is built, how it is taxed, and where it fits against the alternatives.

Guide How a SPIA works → The mechanics from premium to first check, in plain terms. Guide Payout options → Life-only, cash refund, period certain, joint — what each trades. Guide How SPIA income is taxed → The exclusion ratio, qualified vs. non-qualified money, worked through. Guide SPIA vs. a MYGA → Income now versus a locked rate you keep control of. Guide SPIA vs. a bond ladder → Where a lifetime check beats building your own income from bonds. Guide SPIAs and inflation → What a fixed check is worth in 20 years, and how to hedge it. Guide What economists say → Why researchers favor income annuities more than buyers do.

Straight answers

The questions people actually ask

The objections worth taking seriously, answered by conceding what is true first.

Is this a sales pitch for annuities?

It is fair to be wary. Most of the annuities sold hard online are variable or indexed products stacked with riders and paid on large commissions — the category earns its bad name.

A SPIA is the opposite corner of that world: you hand over a lump sum and get a fixed check for life, with no moving parts to mark up. The payouts here come straight from the carriers’ own filed rates, and the quoter shows you the firm number before anyone talks to you.

What if the insurance company fails?

A SPIA is not FDIC-insured — it is backed by the carrier’s reserves, which is why we lead every row with the AM Best rating.

Behind the carrier sits your state’s guaranty association, which covers annuity benefits up to a statutory limit if an insurer fails — $250,000 in most states, and up to $500,000 in a few. Splitting a large amount across two carriers keeps you inside those limits.

What happens to my money if I die early?

This is the fear that stops most people: hand an insurer $100,000, die in year two, and it feels like the rest is gone.

Every payout on this page assumes a cash refund, which answers exactly that. If your checks have not yet added up to what you paid in, the balance goes to your beneficiaries — the insurer keeps only what it has already paid out. You trade the top-dollar monthly figure for that protection, on purpose.

Why is the taxable amount smaller than the check?

Because part of every check is simply your own principal coming back to you, and you are not taxed twice on money you already paid tax on.

Only the earnings portion counts as taxable income; the rest is return of principal. That is the exclusion ratio, and it holds until your principal is fully returned. Money inside an IRA works differently — there the whole check is taxable, because none of it has been taxed yet.

Are these payout numbers guaranteed?

Two different things are worth separating. Once you buy, the lifetime payment itself is a contractual guarantee — the check keeps coming for as long as you live.

The figures on this page are today’s payouts, and they move with interest rates. They are firm only through the lock date on an actual quote. Treat this directory as the comparison, and the quoter as the number you can act on.

What your own money buys

Your exact number depends on your age and amount. The quoter works it out in about a minute, with no call required.

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