How to Money · Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Jean Chatzky states that annuity products have improved, offering features like 'return of premium' guarantees that address past criticisms of losing principal. She also suggests that annuities can offer a better income stream than traditional bonds, especially considering market volatility and interest rate risks.
“I will say that the products have gotten better, and so when we talk about being able to understand what you're buying, it's a clear roadmap these days. And when we look at things like the complaint that if you put money into this and you died tomorrow, you would lose it, that's not really true anymore. There are return of premium guarantees so that if I die, if I put one hundred thousand dollars into this and I died tomorrow, my heirs would get that money.”
“This is a replacement for the fixed income component of your portfolio, and actually annuities, according to some recent studies, have been shown to do better with a greater potential income stream than you would get from those bonds.”