Whole Life Annuity

You have some money to invest. Your main goal is to make sure you have some income coming in, no matter what. You aren't looking to maximize return or mess around with stocks that might go down in value.

So...you buy an annuity. This investment, usually provided by insurance companies, pays you a regular income each year (the timing of the payments can depend on the particular product). Basically, you pay the insurance company a lump sum now, and they promise to make regular, set payments back to you over the life of the annuity.

The “whole life” part of "whole life annuity" means you’ll get the payments until you die. The company uses actuarial data to get the pricing right.