Life Annuity

See: Annuity. To life, to life, l'chaim.

In an annuity, you pay a chunk of money now, and at some point in the future, the company you paid starts paying you fixed payments on a regular basis.

The details of an annuity differ from product to product. Some pay out for a set period of time...say, 20 years or something like that. A life annuity doesn't have a fixed time period. It keeps paying out as long as the recipient is alive.