Income in the future for retirees will be a problem. Studies show that 80% of our retirement income will have to be generated from personal savings. A variable annuity can help with this problem.

We are in the wave of baby boomers retiring over the next 10 years. That is 77 million people looking to retire! What is going to be their source of income? Will it be from Social Security? No, that will be a supplement to their income. Their retirement income will be generated from their 401(k)'s or IRA's. There are few to no pension plans available anymore.

What can all these retirees turn to for help? How about a Variable Annuity with a For-Life living benefit? These are the newest type of living benefit is the For-Life benefit. This will guarantee the owner of the contract a certain percentage of withdrawal, usually 5% annually, for the rest of their lives. Jackson National was the first to roll out this type of program with many companies following suit.

Basically, you invest your money and you can take out that 5% a year until the day you die. Even if your account goes to zero, you will still get that 5% withdrawal for as long as you live. It is pretty amazing that they rolled out with these benefits. Prudential just launched a new version of this type of benefit that will guarantee that withdrawal for both the owner and the spouse of the contract for as long as each one lives individually.

Now, the old way of thinking about retirement income was one of two options:

1. An immediate annuity, this option stinks. You are locked into getting those payments forever. The payments are fixed and they never vary. That is a problem, because inflation is very real and will make today